Binding Crime
by S. A. Arkenburgh
Summary: Stefan goes to Virginia to attend his beloved girlfriend, Katherine's, funeral. While there he meets her twin sister, whom he's deadset on helping find her sister's murderer. Sparks will fly, but will they be good enough to bind a love so ill-placed?
1. Funeral

There comes a time in everybody's life that they have to say goodbye to one person or another. This…is one of those times.

I'd looked down at Katherine's casket and saw a wax figure. She didn't look like herself. Her hair wasn't curled the same as she liked it, for there were microscopic kinks in them. Her skin was a pasty yellow from the application of too much powder. She smelled of fresh embalming oil, and _it_, mixed with an overpowering scent of flowers sent my stomach reeling.

Her eyes didn't sparkle. Instead, they stayed shut in thanks to the visible thread keeping them there, and it was the same with her mouth.

I laid a simple rose on her partially covered body. It was fake, so it would last forever. Katherine had always loved fake roses, because they never faded or pricked her fingers - the fingers that used to stroke through my hair when she kissed me, or even when she cried into my chest. They were the same fingers that would accusingly point at me when I was to blame, or to beckon me to her. It was then that we'd usually kiss and make up, or she'd slap me, which ended up with her thrown over my shoulder and carried off to either her room or mine, in which we'd talk it out or scream at each other until I got sick of it and ended up throwing her roughly - but not too hard - up against the wall and capturing her lips in a livid and lustful caress.

She'd smile at me in between kisses, and whisper submitted thoughts into my ear, where I'd feel her sweet breath tickle me.

She'd also smile and wave to me in the stands while I was out playing on the football field, dedicating every touchdown and win to her, because she was my reason for it all.

Now, I have no reason.

Now, she was gone, taken from me in a "car accident". At least, that's what the medical examiner had written.

I could remember when I'd last saw her, and the thought took me away - away from this shell that used house the spirit of the woman of whom I was so madly in love with.

…

"What would you like, Sweetheart?" I'd asked her once we sat down at a simple venue near the park for lunch.

"A glass of tea and a chicken club," she replied to the waitress and I.

She'd always loved coming to this place - The Rosenthal Sub Shoppe, it was called. She ordered the same thing every time - sweet lemon tea and a chicken club. '_The lettuce is crisp, the tomatoes are fresh, the mayo is light, the chicken is always grilled, the bread is rye, and the tea is always extra sweet_,' was her reply one day when I asked her what she loved about her meal.

I agreed the day I decided to order the same thing.

"What are your plans for the weekend?" I questioned in want to make plans.

"This is actually the one weekend I'm not free," she said. My spirits fell immediately, and she saw, but they came back up when she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm meeting my mother for the first time in my life, and my sister."

"I never knew you had a sister," I spoke casually. "I thought it was just you and Grayson." That was her dad's name - Grayson Gilbert.

"So did I," she laughed. Her laugh was so pure and genuine that I couldn't help but smile. "My mother's name is Miranda, and my sister's name is Elena. Dad even told me that I have a little brother. He said his name was Jeremy."

"What's their last name?" I asked.

"My mother kept Gilbert as a last name," she stated.

"So, if your family's name is Gilbert," I started, "then why is your last name Pierce?"

"My father wanted me to have Jen's last name for some reason," she replied. Jennifer Pierce was her ex-stepmother's name.

"Well, I hope you have fun in Virginia this weekend," I laughed. "I think it's much different than New York City."

"That's for sure," she agreed.

…

We'd spoken of random topics until our food came, and then left happily. I drove her home, and she'd left that Friday. Little did I know that the following Wednesday I'd be down here in Virginia to see her again, only to be laying in a casket filled with practical belongings like her favorite book, which was _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and wearing her favorite clothes, which were simple blue jeans, and a white tank top, with her necklace that I'd bought her for her birthday. It was custom made with our names engraved on a single charm. I held the charm up to my fingers and watched it glisten in the low light. At that moment, though, I'd come too close and made contact with her skin.

It was as cold as ice, if not colder.

Right then and there, I fell onto the covered part of her body and cried.

I didn't care if people saw me. I didn't care if they were to say, "Look at him! He's the strongest lineman on the team and he's crying like a baby!"

My Katherine was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

"Stefan, dear," I felt Katherine's aunt, Jenna, come up to me and grab my shoulders. "Come to the lobby with me. I know it's hard, but this is just making it harder."

She tried pulling me, but I wouldn't budge, "No, I can't leave her!"

I caused a bit of commotion, and Jenna went and called security to escort me to the lobby.

We stopped at a sign saying "Katherine Elizabeth Pierce", and an arrow pointing in the direction to go in to pay respects to her dead body.

Security sat me down on one of the uncomfortable pieces of furniture and I didn't fight them. Jenna came next to me.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," she said. "I really wish I could be there for you, but I have to move to Virginia to take care of Elena and Jeremy."

Grayson and Miranda had died in the car accident, too. Jeremy wasn't in the accident, or so I heard. Elena was the only survivor, and I didn't know who she was.

"I don't know what to do without her, Jenna," I said. My heart was torn into pieces.

She didn't reply, and instead, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I rounded the staircase to enter the hallway where the bathrooms are, I stopped in my tracks.

Katherine!

Wait a minute - was this an undercover plan or something?

Katherine was standing right in front of me with straight hair. Those brown eyes were big and her petite body was covered in a subtle black dress that showed off a bit of her leg. I loved when she wore anything to show off her wonderful legs. They were always so smooth and soft. I'd trace my fingers up and down the sides of them for hours when she'd stretch them across my lap when on my couch.

She was speaking with some people that I didn't know, but they soon left and she entered a small room filled with tissues and other mourning supplies.

I took my chance and entered in after her.

Her back was to me, so I grabbed her gently by the waist and turned her around. Before she had time to speak, I planted my lips on hers and kissed her as if I would never see her again.

When I released her lips, I hugged her close to me and mumbled through her hair.

"Oh, Katherine," I said. "I knew it wasn't you in the casket. You looked too fake, like a wax figure. I've missed you so much. Please don't ever leave me again. I love you!"

"Whoa!" she said subtly, but still exclamatory. "You must be Stefan."

"Of course," I looked at her. "Did you get some sort of amnesia when you were in the accident?"

"Oh, no," she said, obviously feeling sorry for me. "It's nice to meet you, Stefan Salvatore. My name is Elena Gilbert, and I'm Katherine's twin sister."

"Tw-_twin_?" I asked, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry."

I felt like such an idiot.

"It's alright," she said. "Look, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah," I said awkwardly.

"I don't think my family was just killed in a car accident," she stated. "In fact, I know that they were murdered, and I'm going to find the killer. I need somebody who knew Katherine well, so it'd be nice if you could help me. Would you like to be my partner in crime, Stefan Salvatore?"

For some reason, the way she said my name made me unable to resist.

"Yes, Elena Gilbert. I'll help you."

Thus begins our journey into a world unknown.


	2. Morgue Mishaps

"Mother, I'm eighteen and just graduated high school last year," I told her as I spoke in hushed tones on the phone. It was near a quarter past five in the morning, and it was obvious that she forgot the hour time difference. "Katherine's funeral is today at noon, but I'm not coming home right after. I have enough money saved up from work, and I just can't come home yet. I'll be passing all of the places Katherine and I had been and it'd be too much.

Some of it was a bit too dramatic, but I needed to make my point. I'd packed enough clothes for seemingly a month, due to the fact that I just threw everything that would fit in my suitcase because I was too distracted to even know what I was packing other than dress clothes for this mourning event.

"Stefan, don't make me beg," she whined over the phone. "What about work?"

"I worked as a paid tutor at the school, Mom," I said. "School let out, and I'm no longer a high school student."

"Please," she said as she tried her typical begging skills.

"No, Mom," I said.

"What about your brother?" she asked.

"_Damon_?" I laughed. "You _must_ be desperate! We're not on speaking terms ever since he tried to kiss Katherine. He didn't even come down with me to pay any respect. Instead, he took the first flight to Italy to go and live with Dad for the summer."

"You should at least call him," she said. "Katherine is a perfect example of how life is precious and you never know if you'll ever speak to him again."

"You're using my dead girlfriend as a comparison to my relationship with my brother?" I said in a serious and disgusted tone. "That was low."

I hung up.

I then tried going back to sleep.

It was working until about eight minutes later when I heard a knock at my door.

"No room service," I groaned and rose out of my warm bed to answer it.

The door opened and I nearly fell out.

There she stood before me in a subtle black dress and matching heels.

"I must be dreaming," I said as I touched the figure before me. She was real.

"Stefan, wake up," she said. "I'm Elena, not Katherine."

Her words cut into me as I realized that I'd never awake to Katherine's voice or face again. She'd be a memory that faded with time, but she'd never be forgotten.

"Right," I said. "Come on in. How'd you find me?"

"Stefan, this is the only hotel in Mystic Falls," Elena said as she sat down at the edge of my bed.

"Oh," I replied. I then took in my surroundings. Well, more like I took in what I was wearing.

I stood before her, my brown hair strung out in arrays at the top of my head from tossing and turning in my sleep, my green eyes were most likely baggy and glazed over, and I was in nothing but my boxers.

I blushed, "Wait right here."

I quickly grabbed my suitcase and drug it into the bathroom. I'd get ready there.

"So, what are you doing here so early?" I asked through the door.

"I thought we'd do a little digging before Katherine was laid to rest," she began. "In order to do that, though, we need to get to her body before anybody else does."

_Her body?_

_Aw, Hell!_

I didn't want to do it, but I just agreed and continued getting ready. I never got up this early, and it was taking a toll on me.

I quickly showered, brushed my teeth, applied deodorant, styled my hair, and put on my dark blue jeans with a white button-cuff shirt and a black tie with a matching suit jacket. Katherine never really liked the fact that I wore a suit jacket with jeans, but it's not like she could tell me that anymore.

I missed her so much.

"Alright, I'm ready," I said as I came out of the bathroom and donned my socks and shoes.

"Wow," Elena said. "You look very nice."

"Thanks," I replied.

We didn't say much until I grabbed my wallet that had the card key to the hotel door in it, locked everything up, and headed downstairs.

Elena's car was simple, and nothing compared to my classic red Porsche that my father had gotten me for my sixteenth birthday. I didn't drive it much, because it was near impossible to drive anywhere in New York City, so it stayed in the garage for the most part. I still loved it, though. Anyhow, her car was a simple jeep, which looked like it'd been in a fender bender or two.

I hopped in the passenger seat and got to view the first bit of sun streak the sky with its light.

I buckled my seat belt, and watched Elena do the same out of the corner of my eye. I tried my best to look for any differences between her and Katherine, but I just couldn't - not even one.

I said nothing as she drove us to the funeral home. I didn't even speak when she parked her car out of the security camera's view, or even when she donned a tool belt she had in the backseat and covered it with a black trench coat.

She led me to the back door, but stopped before a camera could see her.

"Stefan, how good of a shot are you?" she asked.

"Why?"

"There are no other surrounding stores or homes with security cameras and I need you to take that one out with a rock," she replied as she pointed to the one near the back entrance.

"I guess I could do it," I said.

I looked around and picked up the heaviest rock I could find and threw it at the camera.

I missed.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "Try again."

I tried again.

This time I knocked it down and shattered the lens.

"Great job," she approved.

It seemed to be her job now. She went to the locked door and pulled out a bobby pin from her hair as she began to pick it.

To my surprise, it worked.

"My mother taught me that in case I needed the fire extinguisher from the case and couldn't find the key," she smiled. "She had to keep it locked up because my little brother always tried to spray the dog with it."

I found that funny.

When she knocked the lock off of the door and opened it, we were surprised to find it dark.

Elena pulled a flashlight from her tool belt, and turned it on.

We both jumped when she shone it to the right, because it reflected off of glass and caused our nerves to react.

In actuality, it was the surveillance room.

Again, she picked that lock with her bobby pin and entered. The cameras were still rolling, all but the one I knocked out. That screen seemed to have a blizzard on it.

She pressed a button that rewound the tape so see if we were caught by the camera, and we weren't on any of them. She then disabled all cameras.

I pressed a button to eject the tape and then I took it.

"Come on," she said quickly. I followed.

She used the flashlight as her guide as she made her way through each room. When we reached the basement door, we saw light shining through the bottom of the door crack.

I placed my ear against it and listened.

There was no sound.

"Let's go," I whispered.

"Stefan," Elena started, "before we do, you must know that this is where the bodies are stored for funerals. My parents and Katherine are going to be down here, and maybe even some other bodies that we don't know about. Are you ready to do this?"

I contemplated this for a bit, but I'd already seen Katherine's body, so I knew what to expect.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Then that makes one of us," she said as I heard her sob.

"Elena, I'm so sorry," I said softly. "If it helps, I'll be right beside you the whole time."

She took a few deep breaths, "Okay."

We opened the door and she turned off her flashlight, for the fluorescent lights hung to the ceiling like silent death. They said nothing, and hung there.

I descended the first three stairs first, and almost threw up at the most revolting smell I've ever had enter my nostrils in my life.

There were no flowers to cover up the scent of death, and I suddenly wished there was.

"Here," Elena said as she handed me the items of success: nose plugs.

"Thanks," I said.

I'd mastered the art of learning how to speak normally with nose plugs on, and apparently so had Elena.

"Where do you think they'd be?" she asked me once we reached the basement.

The basement was separated into five separate rooms. Room one was labeled to be the freezer where dead bodies were stored that hadn't been through the transition of embalming. The second room was labeled as the room that the embalming was done in. The third room was labeled as the room the bodies in caskets were stored in. The fourth: the room that new, empty caskets were in. They were the caskets that people bought to put their loved ones in the first room in. The fifth room, which was quite far away from the first room, was the heater. I call it a room because that's where cremation took place.

I led Elena into the third room.

I nearly froze when we entered through the doors.

There were over ten caskets in here!

All of which looked exactly alike.

"How are we going to find them?" she asked.

"Are there names or initials on any of them?" I asked.

"No, they're all the same, except for the serial numbers near the bottom," she replied. "Hey, look! There are files along the back wall. They're most likely the medical examiner's files, but maybe the numbers on the caskets will be in them."

Well, that was hopeful thinking, but there were over seemingly three hundred files along that wall.

"This place opens at 6:30," she said. That gives us a little over a half hour to find what we need. You look for Katherine's file, and I'll look for my parents'."

I went over to the wall and scanned for the "P" section.

"Pier, Piera, and…," I mumbled to myself, "Pierce."

The problem: there were eight different files with the name of Katherine Pierce.

I pulled the first file. The date was on the inside flap of the folder.

It read: Katherine Margaret Pierce 1804-1896

Well, that wasn't it.

The second one: Katherine Allison Pierce 1901-1996

Nope, not that one, either.

Third: Katherine Penelope Pierce 1918-1938 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)

Fourth: Katherine Nicolette Pierce 1920-1976 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)

Fifth: Katherine Celia Pierce 1930-1973 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)

Sixth: Katherine Jane Pierce 1989-2012 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)

I began to wonder if that was the medical examiner's excuse for every young, sudden death.

Seventh: Katherine Elena Pierce 1994-2012 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)

That one shook me to my core. The name included Elena's and the poor girl was just one year younger than I was. Needless, to say, though, it wasn't the Katherine Pierce I was looking for.

Eight: Katherine Elizabeth Pierce 1993-2012 (Cause of death: Automobile Accident)

This is the one I was looking for.

Sadly, when I lifted up the paper clipped inside to see if her casket's serial number was in here, there were photos of the accident, and her mangled dead body on the examiner's table before the process of fixing her up for the funeral.

My breath caught in my throat and I dropped the file. Luckily, a paper fell out of the file that had a serial number for the casket she was in. I picked up the folder, but kept it closed.

I found Elena, who was pulling out the second file of her father.

"I found Gilbert members that go all the way back to the 1800's," she said. "Ah, here's Grayson."

She opened the folder and pulled out the slip with the casket numbers on. Lucky for her, the pictures were in an envelope, so she didn't see them. Why didn't they do that for Katherine's?

Elena seemed so calm about this, and I felt the need to ask her why.

"I guess it hasn't hit me that they're gone," she said. "I was in that accident and I'm fine, so I just think maybe my mind is still in shock."

"Maybe," I agreed.

"Did you find Katherine's casket number?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said sullenly as I gave her the paper with the numbers on it.

Elena and I looked at all of the numbers and she found her parents.

She then helped me look for Katherine's.

When we found the number, she spoke.

"Stefan, we have to open it to examine anything that people are trying to cover up," she said. "Are you sure you're ready?"

I nodded, and together we opened the casket.

Both of us nearly screamed when we did, though.

Katherine's casket number was 96500B001.

This wasn't Katherine Elizabeth Pierce's casket.

It was Katherine Elena Pierce's…and there was a reason that her casket was all but glued shut.

The examiner wasn't lying when he or she determined the cause of death was an animal attack.

The poor girl's face was marred and mangled. Her skin was so ripped up that it was visibly sewn back to her face and a chunk of her bottom lip was gone!

If I'd have eaten anything before hand, I would've definitely seen it again from barfing after seeing that poor girl's body.

"Oh my God!" Elena said.

She took out her camera and actually snapped a picture.

"What are you doing?" I asked her with wide eyes. "You can't be serious."

"Stefan, those marks on her neck were the same ones that my mother had on hers. If there's any similarity, I have to have a picture.

I said nothing and tried to breathe normally again.

I rechecked the serial number on this casket, and with closer examination, the number was 96S008001. We had the five and the B mixed up.

Once the casket was sealed, we tried looking for our Katherine's casket.

We found it, and I double checked the number closely before opening it.

Elena helped me, and the casket came up with more ease than the last one.

I saw her again. Her face was set in a subtle position, as if she was sleeping, but Katherine never slept with her hands folded on her midsection. Her hands were always under the pillow she was cuddling with, or around me when I took the place of her pillow.

"Are you ready, Stefan?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied quietly.

"Okay, I need you to undo the white cover over her bottom half.

I did so, careful not to cry. Her shirt was above the waistline of her jeans in the slightest, and I saw thread sewn into her skin.

Elena saw it, too. She then lifted Katherine's shirt up to get a better viewing. The scar ran all the way up to just below her left breast, and it wasn't the same slice as the one made for embalming, it was a different one.

Another thing I noticed: the wound ran below her waistline and was covered by her jeans.

"Stefan, unbutton her pants, will you?" she asked as she examined the scar.

I did so quickly, and blushed a bit because I'd done this a number of times before.

It was then that I'd noticed that she had on a set of her favorite underwear. They were black, silky boy shorts that I'd seen her in before. They showed the very bottom of her butt, and were by far my favorite on her.

The scar went just a little more beneath her underwear, and Elena looked at me again.

"You already know what I'm going to ask you to do," she said blatantly.

I did, so I pulled down the corner of her underwear and stopped where the wound stopped. Only the top part of her unmentionable area was showing, and nothing else. I'm guessing a lot of thread was used.

Elena snapped a picture of the whole scar.

"Can I see her file?" she asked.

I handed it to her when I dressed Katherine back up and fixed the white blanket.

"That's funny," she said to herself. "There's no mention of this scar anywhere, but it's obvious in the pictures."

Right before I closed her casket, I kissed the tips of my fingers and then placed them on Katherine's cold ones.

Once she was back the way she was, I let a tear fall down my face.

I didn't say anything more the whole time I was helping Elena examine her parents' bodies. She didn't have the heart to examine Grayson's, because he was a male, so I did all of the work on that, which was mainly taking pictures since we didn't have much time before the funeral home opened.

We did the same with her mother, and then put them back the way they were.

It was then that we bolted up the stairs and out the door. We exited the back while the owners and workers entered through the front. She quickly put all the locks back.

Elena and I ran back to her car and hopped in quickly. She still had the tool belt on while she was driving, and I could tell it was digging into her body.

"Do you need help with your belt?" I asked. "I could take the wheel."

"It's safer if you would just undo the belt for me," she said. The hook is on my front. Would you undo it?"

"Yeah," I said.

It felt weird when I reached over to her and undid the belt, because it called for me to touch her. I said nothing as I worked, and the belt came off with ease. I pulled it out from under her.

"You can just throw it in the back," she said.

I did so, and then rested my hands on the three files I had in my lap.

"Are you hungry?" she asked after a moment of silence.

For some reason, I pictured Katherine Elena Pierce's body and almost said "no", but my stomach rumbled, and she heard it.

"I am, too," she laughed. "We could get breakfast at the Grille."

I didn't know where that was, but she took me to it and I felt just a little more content than I had in near a week and a half.


	3. There Go Any Hopes & Dreams I Had

"I'll have the regular, Alden," Elena said as the waiter took down our order.

"Same," I replied as I looked down at my twiddling thumbs.

He walked away quickly and Elena began, "I come here almost every day for breakfast. My friend Bonnie usually comes with me, but you seem like you needed a good meal more than she does."

"Oh," I replied. "What did I order?"

"A chocolate chip pancake with some tea," she replied. "That's my regular."

"Katherine hated pancakes," I said blandly while continuing to look at my hands folded on the table. "She loved tea, though."

"Stefan," Elena said my name solemnly. "I understand how much this hurts, and I _am_ really sorry. I shouldn't have made you go with me."

She put one hand over my folded ones and I looked up into her grave, sorrowful brown doe eyes.

"You didn't make me," I said. "I agreed to go."

"I couldn't have done it without you," she said. "Thanks for doing it."

"You're welcome."

We sat in silence until our food came.

"Here you go, Beautiful," a different boy said as he set Elena's plate in front of her. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. By the looks of it, he was a busboy. "Here is yours, sir."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Thank you, Matt," Elena said as she stretched her body up to peck him on the lips.

"How are things, 'Lena?" he asked.

"They're…sad," she replied. "Jenna has to handle paperwork, and I think Jeremy is doing drugs."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'll be there today after work. My clothes are in my bag in the back. I'll just change here and then meet up with you."

"Yeah," she replied. "This is Stefan Salvatore. He was Katherine's boyfriend."

"Hi, man," Matt said as he shook my hand. "I'm really sorry about your loss."

"Thanks," I said quietly as I poured syrup on my pancake.

"Stefan," Elena began, "this is my boyfriend, Matt."

_Boyfriend?_

"Hi," I mumbled.

It didn't surprise me that Elena had a boyfriend, but I wasn't expecting it, either.

Matt left us to eat alone, and we left quickly after that. I gave him a five dollar tip.

Driving home, Elena took a shortcut. Well, I thought it was a shortcut. As it turns out, she was just going home; she wasn't dropping me off at the hotel.

By this time, it was eight o' clock.

I exited her car and walked slowly up to her porch. She turned the handle, but the door didn't open.

"Jeremy must be gone already," she mumbled to herself. "My key is in my pocket. Would you get it out for me?"

Her hands were full with the files, tool belt, and box of something that I didn't know the contents of.

I dug into her front dress pocket, careful not to let her see how my hands shook with nervousness at the proximity of my hand and her body.

The key was at the bottom of her dress pocket, and I pulled it out quickly.

The key easily fit into the doorknob and opened the wooden blockade, leaving entrance into her home.

"Go on in," she said as she jolted the box up to carry it easier.

I obeyed, but felt bad that I didn't get the box, but when I offered multiple times, she declined my help.

When my feet hit the entrance, the wood floor creaked.

I could hear Elena behind me, for her heels clicked on the floor as she made her way into the kitchen and set the box on the island table.

I finally decided to ask, "What's in the box?"

"The only belongings that could be worth recovering that were in the car," she said. "I want to go through them to look for anything to help us."

"Oh."

"You seem tired," she noticed. "If you want, you can take a nap on the couch until it's time to go to the funeral."

I left her with a shy, sleepy smile and made my way to the living room where I occupied the most comfortable piece of furniture in the little room. In all honesty, it could've been the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I'd ever rested on, but I was too tired to care.

I quickly went into a black sleep.

…

When I'd woken up, it was at the hand of Elena. My eyes cracked open to see this Katherine look-alike beauty smiling slightly at me.

"We have half an hour before the ceremony begins, but I have to be there early," she said.

I quickly rose from the couch and onto my feet, "Alright."

That groggy feeling that people have when they wake in the middle of the day and their voice cracks and rumbles when they speak while stretching out the lethargy took over.

"Do you want lunch?" she asked as she grabbed her keys from the island in the kitchen. It was covered in papers and notes, along with some articles that were in the box. Her camera sat by her notepad.

"No thanks," I said as I followed her out to her car.

"Alright," she said. We got into the car. "Tell me about yourself, Stefan Salvatore."

"Well," I began. "I'm from New York City, and I graduated school last year. I played football for six years as a lineman and sometimes quarterback depending on the rival. My favorite color is red, and my favorite food is steak.

"My father is a pure Italian man that moved here from Italy to marry my mother. She had two children before they divorced and he moved back to Italy. I have an older brother who currently lives with him. We don't get along."

"What're their names?" she asked as she drove.

"My mother's name is Nicole," I started. "It's short for Nicolette. She's French, but was born and raised in the U.S. My father's name is Giuseppe, and my brother's name is Damon."

"As in Damon Salvatore?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said awkwardly. "What about it?"

Elena pulled a book out from beside her seat and handed it to me, "I think there's a Damon Salvatore listed as one of the people who came to Katherine's calling hours. It's one of the last ones. I think it was signed after you left."

I'd left at eight o' clock, and the event went until nine, so many people could've signed it afterwards.

"He's in Italy, though," I said mostly to myself as I flipped through the names on the signed guestbook. Names ranged from Elena and Jeremy Gilbert to Jenna Sommers, and even some guy named Nicklaus…whoever that was.

I flipped to the last page, and there it was.

Right under the name of Matthew Donovan was 'Damon Salvatore' scribbled in my brother's typical scratchy handwriting.

"_Salvatore, as in Savior_," he'd always tell people when he introduced himself.

I could just think of him now, especially when I'd heard him say that to Katherine right before he trapped her against him and a wall and tried to kiss her. Luckily the girl was flexible and managed to slither out of his grasp. He made me sick!

"Well," I managed to choke out, "if he's here, then at least he had the nerve to show up."

"You should reconcile with him if you're arguing," she said. "If I would've been fighting with my parents or Katherine before the accident, I would've felt terrible afterward."

Fighting the urge to call her 'Mom', I folded my hands across my lap and continued on a different subject.

"What about you?" I asked. "Tell me about yourself."

"Well," she sighed. "I just recently turned eighteen, and my guardian is going to be an aunt that I didn't much know about. Yeah, Jenna's my aunt, but I don't know her well. She went to New York with my dad to take care of Katherine. I have a little brother, and his name is Jeremy. He's sixteen. My boyfriend, Matt, is a great guy, but he and I don't seem to naturally "fit together". I'm not sure if it's from my mind shock from losing my family, or if it's really the truth, so I don't want to make any drastic decisions before I actually get my scruples back."

"Interesting," I commented.

We made small talk until we made it to the funeral home.

Pulling into the parking lot, I took a deep breath and prepared for yet another saddening event about Katherine and her death.

"I wonder whose car that is," I heard Elena say to herself. I looked in the same direction she was and my eyes seemed to open just a bit wider.

There was a pale blue 1967 Chevy Camaro with the top up and the silhouette of a man in the driver's seat.

I would recognize that car from anywhere.

That was Damon's car.

I quickly got out and stalked over to it.

Knocking on the window, I got his attention. Sure enough, it was my brother.

He look clean shaven as always in his black suit, with matching black shirt and black tie that matched his black hair and made his electrifying blue eyes stand out from all the rest.

This time, though, his bright blue eyes were surrounded with a light pink shade and puff to go with it. There was a red mark across his forehead from where he had his head on the steering wheel, no doubt.

He straightened up for a moment before stepping out of his vehicle.

"Hello, Little Brother," he said calmly.

"Hello, Damon," I replied. "You've been crying."

"Katherine was a loved part of our family," Damon said. "Whether she was blood related or not, she was still considered family, and I miss her."

"Are you going to attend this funeral as a mourning friend or an upset lover?" I said. "She was my girlfriend, Damon. I don't need you here messing it up."

"Believe it or not I loved her, too," he said. "I'm here to pay my respects as somebody who loved Katherine Elizabeth Pierce."

"Fine," I said.

Before I turned away, he shook my hand, "Let's put that behind us, Brother. What's done is done, and it's obvious that it won't happen again."

"Of course," I said. "It won't happen because she's dead."

I turned away and went inside.

Hearing his footsteps trail behind mine, I pretended that he didn't exist for just a moment and took my seat in a row facing the closed casket beside Katherine's senior picture. On a stand off to the left there was a picture of Katherine and me smiling with each other on the night of the Senior Cruise.

Every year the senior class takes a small ship out that's decorated with lights and colors representing our school. They take it for a cruise around the bay and Ellis Island. We have dinner and an award ceremony for all of the students.

The picture was of Katherine and I1 sitting in the comfortable chairs beside each other at a dinner table. Our backs were to the camera, but we turned our upper torsos around to smile for the camera. That was a good night, for it ended with Katherine spending the night with me in our guesthouse. It was technically where I lived, because my room was there, along with my couch, my television, my fridge, the food in it, and my bed. The same bed that Katherine fell asleep with me in.

I tore my eyes away from that picture and my attention was pulled towards Elena, who was waving for me to come and sit beside her.

I listened and grabbed a seat between her and Jenna. A younger boy with dark hair sat beside on her side.

"This is Jeremy," Elena whispered into my ear when she caught me staring.

"Hey, nice to meet you," he whispered and leaned over Elena to shake my hand. I returned the favor.

I couldn't get the feeling of Elena's sweet breath tickling my ear until a preacher came up to the pulpit.

"Friends, family, and acquaintances," he began, "We are gathered to this mourning event to remember Grayson Gilbert, Miranda Gilbert, and Katherine Pierce. These young people were taken from us in a surprising incident, but if I know one thing, it's that we have an almighty and powerful God, and when he decides to take one of his followers, he will make it happen…"

I tried to tune him out as he spoke about the achievements of Miranda and Grayson. When he spoke about Katherine, it was short. I broke down in tears when he mentioned at how loved she was and mentioned that her boyfriend came all the way down from New York to attend.

Elena patted and rubbed my back as a sign of comfort while tears rolled down her cheeks. I was guessing her makeup was waterproof because it didn't run alongside her tears.

When the ceremony was over, the building evacuated, except for Matt, Jeremy, Tyler, Alaric, and me. We'd all introduced ourselves to each other.

"Where's Nicklaus?" a man who owned the funeral home asked. "He's the last pallbearer."

"I'll do it," I heard a voice in the back of the room announce. I turned my head to see Damon.

"Fine, fine," the man said. "Get up here. You are in the front left across from Stefan."

'_Oh, great!'_ my mind thought sarcastically.

He quietly made his way beside me and we picked up Grayson's casket first.

"Now I know why you're staying," he mumbled across to me.

"Why?" I challenged while looking straight ahead as to not bring notice from the onlookers.

"One word: Elena," he said. "You want her. You want her because she looks like Katherine."

"Shut up, Damon," I said. In a way he was right. I did want to be around her because she reminded me of Katherine, but I didn't want her, for I knew she wasn't Katherine. Also, I was only staying to help find Katherine's killer.

He didn't say anything after we carried the other caskets.

Katherine's was the last casket to be loaded and Elena came up to me.

"Stefan, would you drive for me?" she asked as her eyes were blinded with tears thicker than a waterfall. I guess it finally sunk in.

"Yeah," I said as I hugged her close. "I'm sorry, Elena."

She got into her jeep after attaching the purple and white flags onto her car.

I had to adjust the seat, for my legs were longer than Elena's.

"I'm right behind Katherine's casket," she said. "Just pull on up."

Her eyes were pink and puffy, and I felt bad that I couldn't hand her a tissue or something. I didn't have any to give.

Thus, as a sign of comfort, I placed my right hand on her left shoulder and stole concerting glances at her when I wasn't looking at the road, which wasn't often because it's crucial to look where driving.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," she said to me as she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "I'm blabbering like a baby."

"Elena," I said, "you've just lost your parents, and your twin sister that you've just met. You cry your eyes out, Sweetheart, because not even the strongest person in the world could hold all that pain in."

"Thanks," she sobbed as she leaned over and pecked me on the cheek.

It was a wet kiss - covered in tears and coated with pain - which I wished could make everything better. I wished she were Katherine, and that there was no third casket of hers. I wanted to go back in time and fix it, but I couldn't do that. It's only rumored that Evelenge witches could go back in time, but as far as I knew, witches were just a superstition. Every now and then I'd see people believing that they truly could have powers and levitate people, but they'd just end up locked away in an asylum in the end.

I didn't say much more as Elena took my hand and held it in her lap for comfort. I could tell that there was no attraction and that the action wasn't out of fondness or love, but I'd liked to believe it was.

In the end, it was just for comfort.

Instead of talking, I practiced not letting my hand shake at our proximity.

When I'd pulled up behind the hearses, I exited the jeep slowly after putting the seat back in place.

My next job was to carry the caskets with my brother to the three stands under the tent. I looked at the line behind me and was surprised to count so many cars. Elena had told me that there were family, friends, and council members here, along with coworkers and some people from the local police department. They, too, believed that this was no accident.

My jobs were done quickly, and I sat beside Jeremy this time, for Matt had come along and taken the place of comforting Elena as tears flowed down her face like the Niagara. My heart broke for her, but I couldn't much let that show, for Damon decided to take the seat next to me.

"I see you drove Elena here," he smirked as he whispered into my ear. I'll be the first to say that a woman whispering into your ear softly is sexy, but when an older brother does it harshly and in a sarcastic way, it's the most irritating thing in the world. It took all I had not to punch him right there.

"I see you've developed an Italian accent while living with Dad," I noted. "Why are we playing a game of stating the obvious?"

"Stop trying to be a smartass, Stefan," he said in a disgusted tone. "You can't do it like I can."

"Obviously," I commented as a prayer began. "Why are you here, Damon? I want the truth, not that 'I loved Katherine, too' crap."

"Well," he began. "I did love Katherine, but the real reason is that Mother wanted to know why you were staying down here and not coming back up. Since she couldn't take off work to find out, she paid for a plain ticket for me to come here and find out."

"No wonder she is a great businesswoman," I whispered. "She's into everybody's."

Damon agreed.

Once the prayer was done, all three caskets were laid to rest. Katherine and Grayson were to be buried here, because that's where all their family was.

I let a few tears fall, but stopped when I saw Damon approach Elena.

"Hello, Miss Elena," he began. "I'm Stefan's older brother, Damon Salvatore. Salvatore as in "Savior"."

"Hi," she said between sobs. "I'm Elena Gilbert."

I desperately wanted to approach him from behind, grab him by his feathered black hair, and cram his nose cartilage into his skull, but I wouldn't stoop that low.

"Jealous much?" I heard somebody approach from behind me. "Don't worry. Elena's not the only pretty female in this town."

I turned around to see a tall blonde with blue eyes looking up at me.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"I'm Caroline," she said as she stuck her hand out. "Caroline Forbes."

"Stefan Salvatore," I introduced.

"I heard you were with Katherine," she said. "I'm sorry for your loss. If you'd like, we could go talk about it."

I looked back at Damon, who was swooning Elena while Matt spoke with Jeremy, and something in me snapped, "Sure. I'll go."

"Great," she said.

She grabbed my hand and led me to her car where we talked about everything under the sun, but I also gave nothing away at the same time.

I was fuming, and all I could think about was Damon speaking to Elena.

'Salvatore as in Savior,' he said. In that moment I'd pictured him grabbing Elena and trying to kiss her like he'd done Katherine after saying that, and I fumed.

I hid it, though. Caroline was speaking, and yelling would be rude.

She seemed nice enough, but I wasn't here to make friends.

I was here to find my girlfriend's killer.

That's it! No vacation, no friends…

…and no Elena.

This was about Katherine, like everything else in my life was.

I loved her.


	4. Clue

Weeks had passed since Katherine's burial, and I'd worked on a case with Elena every day, but it seemed as if maybe the accident was just that - an accident.

"No, Stefan, I know it's here," she'd said when I'd told her my feelings about it. "It's right in front of us. We just have to look harder."

I'd moved from the hotel and into a boardinghouse, because the latter's only expense was that I cleaned up after myself and bought groceries when they were low. My only other roommate, the owner, Mrs. Flowers, was a laid back old woman who didn't mind my odd arrivals and departures.

My savings were dwindling, so I'd gotten a job at the Mystic Grille. I was a busboy along with Matt, but I'd waited tables every now and again when somebody called off. I didn't much like the job, but it was a good way to meet the townspeople. Tyler, one of the pallbearers, came in a lot, and so did Caroline.

Caroline was so generous to me. She'd come in and then make her way to sit-in dinner bar, and she'd always have something for me. Whether it is a nice button-up collar shirt and a pair of blue jeans or just good news, she always had something. I'd told her from the beginning that I didn't have the money to always get her things, and that I was sorry, but she said she understood and just liked talking with me on breaks.

I'd developed some sort of attraction with her, but I wouldn't call it relationship worthy. She was a good friend, and that was something I'd truly needed when I came here to Mystic Falls.

I was right about Katherine - the pain went away with time, but I'd never forgotten her. It used to be that Elena was a constant reminder of what I couldn't have, but in actuality, the two couldn't be any more different than they were.

It was around the beginning of July, and I'd accumulated a driver's license for Virginia from New York, because the boardinghouse wasn't considered a hotel more than it was a residence, so technically, I lived here and my residency was with Mrs. Flowers.

Today, though, I was working until two and at noon after we'd finished serving breakfast, Elena came bursting through the doors yelling my name.

"I've found something, Stefan!" she screamed as she ran over to the table I was washing.

She laughed and began jumping up and down.

"What? What?" I laughed at her. "What did you find?"

"A clue!" she whispered as she jumped.

I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her erratic behavior and she stopped jumping.

"It was in Katherine's pictures!" she said. "The big mark on her body that ran from her chest to thigh wasn't recorded in the medical examiner's report meaning that I'd forgotten all about it. I know what it is!"

"Shh," I gestured for her to be quieter. She was gathering unneeded attention from onlookers.

"You'll have to tell me when I come over later," I said quietly. "If we discuss this here I'm likely to get fired. Matt already hates me because I'm spending so much time with you."

"What?" she said in a serious tone. "I highly doubt that Matt hates you for that."

"I don't," I began. "I'd be mad to see some good-looking guy spending lots of time with my girlfriend."

We laughed.

"He may be jealous, but he has no right to be," she said.

"Why wouldn't he?" I asked.

"Stefan, I broke up with Matt last week," she stated. "We'd gone out on a date and he wanted something I wasn't willing to give him."

"Sex?" I asked while trying to be funny and casual about it.

"No," she smacked me lightly. "Marriage."

"_What_?" I said in a surprised tone. "You're both so young. I wouldn't want to get married unless I knew it was with the one person I wanted to spend my life with."

"Did you want to spend your life with Katherine?" she asked.

The question caught me off guard, and I'd suddenly remembered the times that we'd spoken of marriage, kids, and our future together.

"I did," I choked, "but we didn't want to be married at such a young age. We wanted to see how strong our bond was before we made a commitment as serious as that. We never got to test it, because of the incident."

I couldn't really say the words 'Katherine' and 'accident', or even 'die' in the same sentence quite yet. Mostly because I never confirmed with my mind that she died in an "accident".

"Oh," she began. "Are you testing your relationship strength with Caroline, then?"

"Huh?" I looked at her like she was crazy.

"You're together, aren't you?" she asked.

"No," I said casually. "Why? Did you think we were?"

"I did when she began telling everybody that you two were dating," Elena smirked.

"_What the Hell_?" I said with big eyes.

Seemingly on cue, Caroline walked through the doors of the Grille and sat down at the bar. I finished the tables while speaking with Elena and she went to sit by my "girlfriend".

"Hey, Care," I said as I brought her a bottle of water. She only ever drank water here.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

I'll admit that Caroline was beautiful, but she had this preppy sassiness about her that kind of turned me off from the beginning. She was a great friend, though, so I'd never said anything to anybody about it.

"Did you tell people that we were dating?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Since when are we dating?"

"Since you told me you loved me," she said.

"I meant in a friendly way, Caroline," I commented.

"Oh my God, Stefan, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "Please forgive me. I was stupid to assume that and-"

"Hey, now," I laughed. "It's alright. Don't fret. It was just a misinterpretation. I get it."

"You do?" she asked as if hopeful.

"Yeah."

"Oh, thank you, Stefan," she nearly screamed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Elena had stayed for lunch, and I joined her when I got off of my shift. Caroline had gone to do "damage control" and tell everybody that we weren't dating after all.

"How's your brother?" she asked when I sat down across from her.

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't heard from him since he went back to Italy. He left here and then visited my mom for a week in New York, and then went back to our father's."

"Are you still on the outs?"

"Not really," I began. "We reconciled in a way when he came down for the funeral, but I haven't spoken to him since he left."

"Well," she said, "he seemed nice enough. He told me a fun fact about your name. He said that the name "Salvatore" meant 'Sa-"

"Salvatore as in 'Savior'," I cut her off. "He says that to everybody. He may seem nice, but so did the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden."

"You really don't like him, do you?" she said with a humorous face.

"I love my brother, Elena," I said. "That doesn't mean I have to like him."

She laughed, "You're impossible, Stefan Salvatore."

I held up my cup of soda and drank, "Amen to that."

She shook her head and looked down at some paper's she'd brought with her, "Do you need me to take you home?"

"Nah," I said. "My car is being hauled down here from my mom's along with the rest of my belongings. It feels weird to be off on my own now, since it was so unexpected. I actually had to fork out three hundred dollars to have everything packed and hauled down here."

"That sucks," she commented. "Though, you don't have your car at the moment. Are you sure you don't need a ride?"

She looked hopeful, so I gave in.

"Okay," I laughed.

I waved a goodbye to Alden, and could see Matt glare at me from behind the counter. I'd be happy when his hours got shifted next week. He'd work from two in the afternoon to ten at night, and the only time I'd see him is during the shift change when I'd be leaving. It'd definitely minimize the indiscreet glares he'd give me.

I'd exited the building and saw Elena's poor little Jeep parked in the nearest spot that wasn't reserved for the handicapped.

"Do you want to come over?" she asked. "Jeremy misses the challenge of attempting to beat you on the Xbox."

"He should get the hint that I'm unbeatable at _MW3_," I laughed. I didn't like playing it much with other friends because beating them was getting boring, but Jeremy was definitely a worthy opponent and I almost lost to him a handful of times.

"I don't know," she hinted. "He's been playing all week for a rematch. He's gotten a lot better. He won't be home until later, though. He's working today at the Lockwood Mansion. He's the representative for our family since he's the first boy, and because I've been busy with this." She gestured to the files on her dashboard.

"Well, if he won't be home until later," I suggested, "then what about going to the river's edge for a bit of sunny research? We haven't been there yet."

"You're saying that you want to go to the bridge that the accident happened on and then search the river for evidence?" she asked.

"Well, when you put it like that it seems like a bad idea," I said quietly.

"It's a brilliant idea, Stefan!" she said. "We may not find any hard evidence since the water probably washed it away, but any bit helps."

We made small talk the whole way.

Once we got there, we got down to business. Elena parked further away from the bridge and we crossed under the metal caution railing that was set up. Ever since the accident Wickery Bridge was deemed unworthy of use and railed off.

"Be careful," I said to her as she took the lead.

"Don't worry, I will," she smiled.

Elena had retrieved her camera from her car and took wide-shot pictures of the bridge.

Upon closer inspection, Elena noticed the faded skid marks.

"Are those from the accident?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know," she said, "but I'm guessing that they are because they lead to the broken and missing wall where they fell off of it."

"How do you not know?" I said.

"I was asleep during the accident," she said quietly. "We'd been driving for a long time, and I was tired. I put my headphones in my ears and went to sleep. The next thing I know, I woke up to the screams of my mother as we plunged into the cold water below.

"I kicked out the window before any water could get into the car and prevent fast movement, and then I tried to save my family, but the impact caused my parents to hit their head so hard that it killed them, and the door on Katherine's side was hit in by the driver. He hit it so hard that the metal from the outside thrust inward and stabbed her, but she was killed instantly upon impact."

Poor Elena. I wouldn't be able to talk so openly about this, but I had to press further, "Is that what the mark was on Katherine's body?"

"No," she said. "That's the thing: the impact would've cut her in half at the waist. She was cut vertically. The only conclusion I could come up with was that she was lying down on her stomach with her hands pressed out on the door as if she were Superwoman and trying to stop it from caving in, but I'm not sure because I was asleep. I think her hands were near the top of the door, but the car that slammed her hit near the bottom and sliced her from her chest to her thigh."

"Nobody mentioned how she was positioned?" I asked.

"No."

Just as I was about to say something else, my phone rang from my pocket. I answered.

"Ciao, Stefano," I heard in a thick accent on the other line.

"Ciao, Papà," I said. "Come stai?"

"I'm doing well, my son," he said. "Are you good this day?"

"Sì," I replied. "I'm alright."

"That is well," he replied. Ever since he moved back to Italy, his English skills have fallen drastically.

"Are you well, Papà?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Have you listened from Damon?"

"No, I haven't heard from him. Is something wrong?"

"He was to be on the plane here, but the plane land and he was not on it."

"Maybe he decided to stay with mom for a bit longer," I suggested.

"Yes, but I phoned Nicolette and she say he was not with her. She say he left three day ago," he said.

"Well, I don't know, Papà," I admitted. "I haven't seen him since Katherine's funeral."

"I am sorry for the loss of Katerina," he said. He always called her Katerina. Sometimes it was "Katerine" for a nickname, but if not it was Katerina.

"It's alright," I said. "She's in a better place.

"Sì," he agreed. "Well, I should go off the telephone. I love you, Stefano."

"I love you, too, Papà," I said.

"Arrivederci," he said smoothly.

"Goodbye," I replied.

I hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" Elena asked when I put my phone back.

"Damon's not in Italy," I said. "He should've been on the flight that arrived there not long ago, but he wasn't on it. My dad called my mother, but she said he left three days ago."

"Well," she said. "Damon's a grown man. He didn't have to go home if he didn't want to."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I don't know where else he could be, though."

"Well," she said. "There's no sense in worrying about it now."

That was true, so we continued with our personal investigation.

The water below rushed with a current that looked as if it could take somebody under, but in actuality, it was just the sun's rays giving it that look.

I tested the water with my fingers, "It's warm."

"Well, then I guess we should look for evidence in it," she laughed as she started stripping off her clothes to nothing but her bare essentials.

"_Elena_!" I said as I averted my eyes.

"Relax, Stefan," she said. "They're shorts and a sports bra. Now, unless you want to get your regular clothes wet I suggest you take them off."

"Alright," I said quietly as I began to remove my shirt.

I noticed Elena staring, so I turned around as I worked at my belt buckle.

It was dead silent until I heard a big splash coming from the river. Looking over, I saw Elena pounce into the deep middle and dive underwater.

The water was clear, so I could see her deep, chocolate brown hair as it moved and danced under the water. Her light body trailed behind it and her small arms made way as she swam. I was impressed at how long she could hold her breath.

I was down to my thin boxers now and I quickly dove into the warm liquid.

When I came up for air, I saw Elena standing and moving around while looking down. Her wet hair was disheveled as it stuck to her face in a way that I found oddly erotic. I did my best not to look past her neck, because her sports bra was quite thin and showed the outline of her chest. I knew this because I looked once, and I couldn't be doing that. My boxers already showed too much as it was.

"I don't think that there's anything here," she eventually said and swam to another spot.

I tended to stay close to her but still scan the premises where she didn't.

My back was turned and I was scared into alertness when I heard Elena scream.

"Stefan, help!" she yelled.

When I turned around she was gone.

"_Elena_?" I yelled.

I saw her head pop up from the water and her hands thrashed into the air as she fought for breath. Her body was being taken by a current so strong that she couldn't even fight it as it took her.

My instincts took over. I was a lifeguard at the local pool in New York during the summer going into my senior year, so I knew how to swim well and perform CPR.

I fought the strong current as I swam to retrieve Elena's body, but it was even hard for me to put up with. I could only imagine what it would've been like for her little body.

My arms hurt and my legs cramped, but all I could think about was the fact that Elena was out there, and that I might lose her if I didn't fight for her.

"Stefan!" she yelled when she resurfaced again.

I could see her, and I was mere inches from grabbing her, but she slipped under the water again and I couldn't get her fast enough.

My heart raced as I dove below the surface and swam to catch up with her writhing body.

It took me a good minute and a half to find her through the blinding current, but when my hand caught hers I moved and dug my feet into the ground full of sharp rocks and pushed up.

With hardly any energy left, I kicked my way to the edge of the shore and drug Elena with me.

When we reached land, I let out a big sigh of relief and stood by as Elena coughed all of the water out of her mouth and lungs.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," I said breathlessly as I pulled her into a suffocating hug. My hands stroked her wet hair and I collapsed onto my back, for I was too tired to sit up. I hadn't let go of the hug, and thus I'd brought Elena with me, and there she lay - on top of my chest as she looked me in the eyes.

"Th-thanks," she said. She was shaken up.

"You're very much welcome," I replied.

For a moment everything was quiet, and we continued to look at each other. Without knowing, I moved in closer and could see my own reflection in her pupils.

I did notice that her lips parted inconspicuously, and I knew I was a goner.

Her eyes closed slowly, and I went in for the kill. I felt her hot breath cover my face and my heart raced, but this time it wasn't from swimming or panic.

Her soft lips were less than a millimeter away from mine…

"Hello, Elena," I heard somebody say as they broke the moment.

She opened her eyes quickly and nearly jumped away. Her eyes were torn from mine as she looked up.

I tilted my head above as if looking up, but in reality I was just looking behind me because I was lying on the ground.

"Hello, Little Brother," the voice said again.

"Damon," I said his name as I felt a bit of irritation bottle up inside of me.

"You dropped this on the shoreline," he said as he held up what looked like a black chunk of metal.

"Oh my gosh, thanks, Damon!" Elena said as she jumped off of me to retrieve it. That wasn't a good feeling.

Elena grabbed the piece from Damon, but he stroked her face just once before she turned back around to show the object to me.

"This is what I found in the water, Stefan," she said. "It's a part to our car, but it was so heavy that I lost my balance in trying to get it and the current took me under. I managed to hang on to it until we got to the shoreline."

I noticed the black piece, but I didn't scrutinize it.

"You should be in Italy, Damon," I said to him.

"And you should be covering your little brother, Little Brother," he retorted. He was right, because I looked down and my manhood was obvious to the world. Thus, I turned over onto my stomach. Damon laughed.

"I'll grab your clothes while I get mine," Elena said as she ran up the shore to retrieve our belongings.

"Why are you still here?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see the town for a bit longer," he smirked.

"Bullshit," I spat. "You wanted to see Elena for a bit longer."

"Perhaps," he agreed with a sinister smile. "That Caroline Forbes is a babe, too, though. It's a shame you didn't agree to date her. Of course, you've always liked the dark haired ones better. Does she remind you of Katherine, Stefan, or are you just desperate to have some action?"

"Shut up, Damon!" I seethed.

"Until next time, Little Brother," Damon said as Elena came back with my clothes.

I averted my attention to her.

"Where'd Damon go?" she asked.

"He should be walking back up the road that way," I said as I pointed and looked…but he wasn't there.

He was gone.

"I don't see him anywhere," she noted.

That was odd, because he was just here.

"Well, I don't know," I said as I donned my clothing. "Though, I think we've done enough digging for today. We've found our clue, now let's go."

We dressed and got into her car, at which time we went to her house.

I beat Jeremy again on the Xbox.


	5. In Over My Head

"Sì, Papà," I said over the phone the next morning. "Damon is here in Mystic Falls. He didn't want to come home yet."

"Oh me, Stefano," he said in his accent. "You be needing glasses? Are you so blind you can't be seeing your _fratello_?"

"My what?" I asked.

"You brother!" he said sternly over the phone. "I love you, Stefano, but you _italiano_ skills have gotten less."

"I love you, too, Papà," I laughed, "but your _inglese_ is bad these days."

"I will phone Nicoletta and tell her that Damone is with you," he noted audibly.

He always called Damon, my brother, and Nicolette, my mother by their names translated into Italian by habit, but if he remembered that their English names were Damon and Nicole, or Nicolette, then he'd call them that. It's just like when he calls me "Stefano". I was the only one he never called by English name. I've always been his "_Bambino Stefano Salvatore_", or "Baby Stephen Savior". I remember staying with my father for the summer when I was thirteen. Everybody called me Stefano Toto, or Stefano Turrido. They're both alternate names for "Salvatore". In actuality, the name Giuseppe in English is "Joseph".

I heard a child cry from the other end.

"Is everything alright, Papà?" I asked. "Where are you?"

"Beppe?" I heard a female ask over the phone. "Pippo?" Those were both nicknames of "Giuseppe".

"Papà!" I yelled into the phone.

"That was Rossanna," he said when he I could hear him again. "You remember her, Stefano? She has a _bambina_ now. She so tiny! Her name is Sabina. I call her _Bambina Bina_!"

He chuckled at his own joke. My Aunt Roxanne came over for a week of vacation last year to visit me and Damon. She'd told us she was going to have a child, but I was never told that she actually had the baby. Sabina was a pretty name, though.

"_Ciao_, Stefano!" I could hear her say over the phone.

"_Ciao_, _Zia_ Rossanna!" I called as I laughed.

"Well, Stefano," my father began. "I should go off the phone now. I love you, son. Arrivederci!"

"I love you, too. Goodbye!" I said before I hung up the phone.

"Ugh!" I groaned into my pillow.

Apparently that groan was loud enough to hear, for Mrs. Flowers came up and knocked on my door.

"Are you alright, Stefan?" she asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Flowers," I said through the walls. "I was just talking to my dad in Italy."

I could've sworn that I heard her mumble something about foreign families being too much to bear, but she was an old lady, so I wouldn't say anything if she rambled to herself all day. It seemed normal for people her age.

My phone rang again. At least it was a local number.

"Hello?" I said.

"_Ciao, Fratellino_," I heard an all-too-familiar voice say over the line.

"What the hell, Damone?" I yelled. I then covered my mouth, because I'd called him his name in Italian. I felt as if I was speaking with my father a bit too much. "If you're going to call me "little brother" at least do it in English!"

"Why would I do that, Stefano?" he asked, and I just knew that there was a sarcastic smirk creeping onto his face. I just knew it! "Annoying you is too fun to play by the rules."

"Where are you?" I asked. "You didn't even call Dad to tell him you were here. Do you understand how worried he was? You don't answer your phone, call, or even show up on your flight. Then - because he's so worried - he feels the need to call me and fret. You're more trouble than you're worth, Damon."

"Oh, that hurt," he said in mock pain. "I was just checking in on you, and you insult me. How rude!"

"Shut up!" I snapped.

There was a mumbling over the phone, and one of the voices was female. It sounded like Elena.

"Are you with Elena right now?" I asked.

"Maybe," he laughed.

For some reason beyond me, Damon's comment infuriated me and I hung up the phone before throwing it at my wall.

That was a bad idea. I wasn't aiming for anything in particular, and thus, my phone flew out the window I'd opened earlier in the day, before I left for my shift at the Grille.

With many profane words shooting from my mouth, I stomped down the stairs and out the door to retrieve the device that I truly believed would be the item that drove me to insanity.

The kicker of the whole situation is that when I picked up my phone from the front of the yard, it started to ring again.

I gave an irritated chuckle and powered the phone off. I didn't even know who called, and at the moment I really didn't care.

I looked at the clock when I went inside, and without thinking let out an exasperated sigh right before I screamed some of the major "bad words" in the English language.

I was late to meet Elena at her home, "Cock-sucking-mother-fucking-son-of-a-bitch!"

Worse: I'd said it right in front of Mrs. Flowers.

My eyes grew wide, "I'm so sorry…"

"Damn, boy!" she said as she did the typical modern day "snap". "You have a fucking mouth on you that would put a sailor to shame even if he had a part-time job as a trucker."

She laughed, stood up straight, and walked back into the kitchen, and I could hear her mumbling random words the whole way.

Despite my terrible day I laughed in spite of myself. The woman surprised me yet.

I quickly fondled my keys in my pocket and headed out to my classic red Porsche. I'll deny to any police officer that I knew the speed at which I was going, but in actuality, I knew it down to the very single digit. I had to get to Elena's quick, for we couldn't be wasting any time. Ever since the new piece of evidence was found, it has been seemingly all that's on her mind.

On my mind, though, was the moment after I'd saved her from the raging waters yesterday. We were so close to kissing that I could almost smell the yearning for it. Whether it was mine or hers was still a mystery to me, but maybe we could find that out as we solve the primary one we were on.

I didn't care if Damon _was_, in fact, with her; I had to help her in any way I could. No amount of time with my insane brother could ever change the want to be near Elena.

I'd been with her for only a month, and I was already in way over my head. Sometimes I even questioned at night what the hell I was doing and even wondered why I wouldn't just go back to New York and continue with my life. I should mourn the death of my dear Katherine, and then get on with my existence after remembering her sweet qualities. I shouldn't be here…but I just couldn't stay away.

When I'd arrived at Elena's home, she was out on her front porch swing sipping on some tea as her legs helped her sway back and forth. I quickly exited my car and came running up to her.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," I said. "I didn't mean to be late."

"I called you, but it only rang twice before going to voicemail," she said as she moved the files beside her for me to sit down.

"Yeah, I've had a bad morning," I said, and then something hit me. "Were you with Damon, earlier?"

"Nope," she said. "I haven't seen him since…yesterday."

She blushed at recalling the memory, and I looked away before my smile became bigger than the face it was placed on.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well," I began, "what did you find out?"

"I was examining the piece that I found yesterday," she said as she went through her pictures on her camera, "and I found something quite interesting about it."

She showed me the picture of the chunk and in the light of the picture; I could see a dent in it.

"I was remembering where this chunk could've possibly come off of, and it was a part of the passenger door," she said.

She then showed me the next picture of it, but this time, her hand was pressed into the indent…and it fit perfectly.

"It's Katherine's handprint," she told me in a serious tone. "I don't know how that's possible, but it is. If we were in some supernatural world, I'd say she was Wonder Woman and stuck her hand out to stop the car from caving the door in like I'd originally assumed, but instead, the car slammed too hard and caved in every part of her side except where her hand was, making this chunk pop out of the door like a puzzle piece."

"How could this happen?" I asked.

"I really don't know," she said. "Maybe that's how it happened, but she may have broken her arm in the process without the examiner noticing. Whatever the case, this just further proves that this wasn't an accident at all. My family was murdered."

"My God," I said when it finally hit me.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Is it alright if you go through the files alone tonight? I have to meet up with Bonnie now that she's coming back from visiting family out-of-state."

"Bonnie?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "She's my best friend along with Caroline. The two couldn't be more different, but I think you'll like her. I'll introduce you two soon. She's coming home later and she'll need to get settled in."

"Yeah, I'll go through them," I said as I took the three files from her, along with a notebook and copies of all the pictures Elena printed from her camera.

"Until then, I need to go to the store for groceries," she started. "Alaric is busy at summer meetings all this week, and Jeremy keeps sneaking off somewhere. Would you like to go with me?"

The thought of getting out of the sweltering summer heat and into an air conditioned grocery store was appealing to me, so I agreed.

"I'll go with you," I said. "Do you have a list? Are we taking my car or yours?"

"I have the list," she said as she pulled it out of her jeans pocket. "We can take your car if you want. I'll give you gas money."

"Nonsense," I laughed. "I offered, so you don't need to give me any."

"If I didn't give you any I'd feel like a mooch," she said with small stress lines beginning to form on her forehead.

"Elena, it's fine," I said with a sincere smile. Just being with her was enough to make my day worthwhile.

"Are you sure?" she asked wearily.

"Yup," I said as I jumped up.

She laughed at me and proceeded to lock up her home and follow me to my car.

"You were right about it standing out in a crowd," she laughed. "It's very old, but awesome."

"Yes," I agreed. "Don't hate on the car. It's old enough to be your car's great-grandmother, and it still goes faster."

"So it's a girl?" she accused.

"Yup," I said. "This car is my most prized possession."

"Wasn't Katherine your prized possession?" she asked. I could speak freely about Katherine now, except with specific words in the same sentence.

"Katherine wasn't a possession," I said. "She was just my most prized."

I was glad to see that the mending process had taken effect, but I wondered if the rate at which I was healing meant that I loved Katherine less than I claimed I did.

I quickly shooed the thought from my mind and made small talk with Elena all the way to the local grocery store.

"Alright," she began once we entered. I took a moment to relish the fact that we were in an air conditioned building. The boardinghouse didn't have such luxuries. "I need spinach, milk, eggs, bread, doughnuts, bottled water, eight chicken breasts, and mint chocolate chip ice cream."

I laughed at the last one.

"What?" she smiled. "I cannot live without my mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's my favorite!"

"I like it, too," I agreed. "I always had to buy a separate carton because Katherine never ate any ice cream but vanilla. If I didn't buy two separate flavors, I at least bought chocolate syrup to cover up the bland taste. My favorite was always chocolate chip cookie dough."

We both laughed.

"That's a good idea," she said. "Let me put chocolate syrup and chocolate chip cookie dough on the list."

She took a pen out of her hand and scribbled it quickly on the list before we made our way back to the produce department.

"Is there anything you want?" she asked as she compared the weights of two bags of spinach leaves.

"Not really," I said.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I'll buy it as long as it's legal."

I laughed, "I'm sure. I don't need anything."

She turned around and met my eyes, "I didn't ask if you needed anything; I asked if you _wanted _anything."

"The thing I want in this store can't be bought," I said as I blushed.

She gave me a curious look, but I just winked at her.

"What's next on the list?" I asked.

"Um, milk and eggs," she said as she looked down at her list as she tried to hide a blush. I think she knew what I was talking about.

We made our way back to the dairy section and continued our small conversations until we were finished.

"Are you hungry?" she asked as the cashier finished ringing her up.

"Just a bit," I admitted. "You?"

"Starved," she laughed. "Do you want to go to Subway? They have the best sweet onion sauce."

"Sure," I agreed, "but you should put your groceries away first or they'll spoil out in this heat."

"True," she said. "We'll stop back at my house first and then we can go."

"Okay."

"And I'll give you gas money," she mumbled, but I heard it.

"No you won't," I said casually as I grabbed all of the bags and headed for my car.

"Stefan, I can get a bag," she said as she followed behind me.

"I know," I said, "but I got them all."

"Ugh," she said. "You men and your chivalry."

"Whoever said chivalry was dead obviously hasn't met a Salvatore man," I laughed. "Even Damon has class when he wants to use it."

"Why did you think I was with him earlier?" she asked once we arrived at my little red Porsche.

"He called me and I heard a woman in the background," I said. "She sounded like you."

"Oh," she laughed. "I thought you might've been jealous or something."

"_Me_, jealous?" I asked. "Of course I would be."

She laughed at my bold statement. I think she took it as a joke. When I smiled at her without laughing she looked back at me.

"Really?" she asked with casualness.

"Duh," I said. "My brother getting the beautiful girl after getting everything else in the world would infuriate me. Especially since he'd only want you because he couldn't have Katherine."

"I remind you of Katherine," she said. "I guess I understand why you think I'm beautiful. I look just like her."

Her face fell a bit.

"Elena, that's not what I said," I told her softly. "I said that _Damon _would think that, because he tried to steal Katherine from me. He'd try to get you because he failed with Katherine. I myself, on the other hand, do think you're beautiful, but not because you look like Katherine. Your light shines even in the darkest times. I'm not going to lie and say I was only with Katherine because she was the only beautiful one I saw, because there are plenty of girls that I'm attracted to, but none of them hold my interest. Take Caroline for instance - she's beautiful, nice, funny, and everything a typical guy would want in a girl, but I don't have any spark with her. It's not all about physical appearance, Elena; because that's the only thing you have in common with Katherine. She was completely different than you are."

"Is that a good thing?" she asked.

"Of course," I said.

She smiled at me, "Thanks, Stefan."

"You're welcome, Miss Gilbert," I laughed as I took her face into my hands and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

She blushed and I smiled quickly before going to the front and getting into my car.

I didn't say anything else about it the whole day, because I didn't want to dwell on it.

Little did she know is that if I dwelled on it, I would've regretted not kissing her where I really wanted to.

I didn't though, because I was still having an internal war with myself. I wasn't sure if I truly liked Elena for her personality or if it was, in fact, because she looked like Katherine. I wasn't going to make any sudden decision regarding her until I was sure. What happened yesterday was too close, and for a second I was actually glad Damon had came and stopped it. Though, I really did want to kiss her.

Like I'd said, I was way over my head in this situation, but at the moment, I didn't care, because I was having the time of my life.

Maybe even more fun than I'd ever had with Katherine…_ever_.


	6. Files

We'd gone to Subway and eaten, then proceeded to spend the day together at the park. Elena had spoken about her favorite things and dreams she had for her future. So far, she wanted to attend college after a year of break, and then become a children's doctor.

At six, I'd taken her home so she could get her car and go off with her friend, Bonnie.

When I'd arrived at home, she'd sent me a text telling me to look under the passenger side mat on the floorboard, and she'd ended the message with a sideways mischievous face.

I went back out to my car and lifted up the mat, which covered a twenty dollar bill and a sticky note thanking me for using all of the gas in my car on her.

I just shook my head and pocketed the money. She was sly, I'd give her that.

Chuckling to myself, I walked back into the house and began to go over the files that sat at the kitchen table, which is where I was now.

Mrs. Flowers came down the stairs in her pajamas, which were pants and a long sleeved shirt with cats all over them. She always surprised me.

"Do you like my getup, Stefan?" she asked as she made her way to the fridge. "I'm the town's creepy 'ole crazy cat lady, but these are the closest things I have to cats."

I laughed.

"This one's name is Fluffy," she began as she pointed to each individual cat on her pants, "and this one is Oliver. The orange one is Tito, and the three in the middle are Fluffy Number Two, Three, and Four. The black one is Yeti, and -" she looked up - "I quit for tonight. I forget which one was Fluffy Number One."

I laughed harder, "Goodnight, Mrs. Flowers."

"Nighty night, Potty Mouth," she said as she ascended the stairs. Apparently she hadn't forgotten my actions earlier in the day.

I chuckled once more and shook my head; she was crazy, but in a fun way.

My eyes traveled back down to the files. I'd worked on Grayson's and Miranda's, but the main mystery was always leading back to Katherine's file. There was something about it that wasn't adding up. Car accidents had always unnerved me, and it made me remember mine.

I'd been in a car accident with my mother when I was eight. Damon was in the passenger seat, and he was fifteen. He was the first to see the car coming at us, and he'd screamed for Mom to get out of the way, because it would've hit her first. Though, just as the car was about to hit her, it gained control again for one second and missed her side before crashing into the side at which Damon was sitting on.

Elena described how she thought Katherine was laying to stop the oncoming car, and when I remembered it, Damon had been the same way, but instead of his hands being out to "stop the door from caving in", they were outstretched horizontal to his shoulders to protect me in case the car hit far enough for me to be affected.

When the ambulance came, it turned out that Damon had broken his right shoulder and pulled a tendon in it. One of his left ribs was cracked, and he had bruises for a good month afterward. He had to be in the hospital for a week and a half. The kicker: I didn't get a scratch on me. I'd hit my head a bit from the impact to leave a small goose egg, but Damon got the worst part of it. Our mother had only received a gash on her hand.

The doctors told me that if Damon hadn't of thrown himself in front of me, I would've died that day from the impact, because my eight-year-old body wasn't as strong as his fifteen-year-old one.

I cried at the sight of him in the hospital bed and even at my young age, I'd wished it would've been me in his spot, because he didn't deserve it one bit. I'd repeatedly thanked him for what he did, and he told me that it was alright because he loved me enough to lay his life down for me.

Damon had saved my life that day, and his only complaint from it was that the hospital food sucked…all but the chocolate pudding.

That would be the one reason why I would love my brother no matter how insanely irritating he's come to be at twenty-four. He risked his life to save mine, and even though we don't seem to get along or even like each other anymore, I'd always be grateful for him. After all, he basically taught me everything I know.

Damon had taught me how to successfully cheat at Tic-tac-toe, tutored me in math even though he hated it more than I did, and he even showed me how to make a girl fall head-over-heels in love with me, although it worked better with him because he had the piercing blue eyes that could make any girl get lost in them. I tended not to use the last one as much. I did use it on Katherine, though, which is why I think Damon was affected negatively when she wanted me over him.

If I thought about it, Damon was the brother that I loved to hate. Knowing this, I smiled to myself and opened up Katherine's file.

Thankfully, Elena had taken the time to put the pictures of the accident in an envelope, and so I went over the paperwork there as I wrote down my own personal notes.

**Mystic Falls Medical Examiner's Report**

**Name: Katherine Elizabeth Pierce**

**DOB: January 1, 1993 **_**(3:02PM)**_

**SSN: 965-00-1001**

**Nickname(s)/Alias: Katerina Petrova **_**(Bulgarian Descent - translated)**_

**Date of Death: June 9, 2012 **_**(3:02PM)**_

**Cause of Death: Automobile Accident **_**(Backseat Passenger, Driver's Side)**_

**Mother: Miranda Gilbert **_**(Deceased, Front Passenger)**_

**Father: Grayson Gilbert **_**(Deceased, Driver)**_

**Sibling(s): Elena Gilbert **_**(**__**Deceased **__**Survivor, Backseat Passenger, Right Side)**_**; Jeremy Gilbert **_**(Uninvolved in accident)**_

**Additional Info: **_**Broken neck, broken wrist, minor cuts, and scratches. No other sustaining injuries. Dental records don't add up, but Elena Gilbert identified the body, and so did Jenna Sommers.**_

**Date Examined: June 11, 2012**

**Medical Examiner: Brian Walters**

**Signature X:**_** _Brian Walters_**_

I was quite surprised to see that Katherine had died the same time she was born, and it was sad. Another mysterious thing was that her dental records didn't add up. Were they hers? The medical examiner, Brian Walters, had written parenthesis notes in his scratchy handwriting beside the information, and his signature proved all of it. It was obvious as to where he crossed out "deceased" when speaking of Elena and it made me even more curious. Elena had left me a note saying that she'd basically covered her parents' files and half of Katherine's, but to make sure she didn't miss anything to recheck some of the parts.

I did that and everything worked…all but Katherine's file. Why was it so off?

Well, I didn't know, and the lethargy was catching up with me, so I decided to get my work done quickly and go to bed.

The last thing I had to do was look at Katherine's pictures.

I took a deep breath, and shakily opened the envelope flap. My heart was racing by the time I pulled out the overturned pictures.

When my hand flipped with the pictures in it, I held in my breath and tried to calm myself at the sight of this beautiful woman I knew cut and marred from a drunk driver.

Her hair was matted and caked in blood, her lips were a pasty, pale color, and her soft skin had a tint of blue to it. I was mortified at the sight, but I had to examine them as to be sure that the examiner didn't miss anything.

There were skin lids covering her beautiful brown eyes to make her look as if she were sleeping, and some pictures had a zoom for certain wounds like her neck and wrist.

I tried my best to picture some stranger in these pictures as I went through them and took notes, but when I turned to the picture of her laying in the coffin, my mind went into a fit.

I didn't want to examine her embalmed body laying there like an angel, because that was when I was sure she was dead. I quickly threw the pictures back into the envelope, closed the files, and took everything upstairs where I threw them onto a desk.

I fell onto my bed in tears. They were tears for sadness, happiness, and even guilt.

Sadness was because she was dead and gone.

Happiness that at least one survived.

Lastly, I felt guilt because I was only upset because I saw her in the coffin.

…But the she I now saw in the coffin wasn't Katherine, but Elena instead.

My heart broke and shattered when I saw Elena, and I felt guilty that I wasn't this upset when I saw Katherine up close in the same spot in person.

She had me hooked, and she didn't know it yet, but her light was reeling me in.

**A/N: I know it's shorter than the others, but it's critical! I love all of your reviews and I thank you for reading! Much Love!**

**-S. A. Arkenburgh**


	7. Surreal

My dreams weren't blackened from the amount of lethargy, and I was surprised at this. Tonight's dream was about Elena, or maybe it was Katherine. Ugh! _This right here _was why I couldn't move forward. I couldn't let the other one go!

In the beginning it opened up to Elena with wet hair, and I could tell by the little white towel around her body that she'd just gotten out of the shower.

Her drenched locks stuck around her neck and her brown eyes were on me seductively. Well, I would've liked to have thought that, at least.

"Elena," I'd said uneasily. One of her hands were trying to get the hair off of her face while the others only held up the front of the towel, meaning that her backside was bare, but she was still facing me so I couldn't see anything. "What are you doing?"

"Shh," she said with a closed mouth smile afterwards. She wasn't saying much, but she was telling me everything with her eyes at the same time.

She bit her lip and looked up at me from under her lashes, and she didn't stop as she approached me.

"Elena," I said as she was near inches from me. I could smell the sweet fragrance of fresh cleanliness radiating from her skin. "Stop."

She looked up at me as she leg go of the towel. I swallowed the lump in my throat and hoped to God that I wouldn't go to Hell for committing the sin of Lust.

I backed up to a wall, and she followed me as she left the towel behind on the floor. Did I mention that we were in my room here at the boardinghouse?

"No," she whispered as her delicate hands worked at my belt buckle…and then my shirt…and jeans…mmm.

"Please stop-" I began. Oh, so many nights I've dreamed of this in one situation or another, but this - this was _so real_.

She reached up to kiss my neck just under my ear and my heart seemed to jump into my throat.

When I received enough nerve and self-restraint to stop her, I took her by the shoulders and eased her to an arm's length away from me.

I examined her closely, meaning every curve from her lips that now had a slight pout on them to the way her toes curled against the chilly wood floor. In between that, though, I caught a glimpse of an all-too-familiar necklace.

The small pendant around her neck had a charm with 'Stefan & Katherine' engraved into it. I squinted at it slowly, and then proceeded to take it into my fingers. When I flipped it over, it had '7/30/08' written on it to signify the day we started dating.

"Katherine?" I said. "It can't be you…"

"You'd be surprised to know that I can at least show up in your dreams, my sweet Stefan," she smiled as she came back to me.

I wanted to cry, but since I knew I was dreaming and that I wasn't quite sure when I'd wake up, I'd decided to take advantage of the situation.

My arms wrapped around her in an embrace so tight that I feared smothering her, "Oh, Katherine, I miss you so much!"

Perhaps it was time that affected me so much and made me question my love for this woman. She'd always been mine, and now I feel that it would be likely that I fancied Elena so much because she did actually look like Katherine. Although Elena helped me heal from the sudden loss of Katherine, she did have a completely different personality that was beautiful in itself, but she wasn't my Katherine.

"I've missed you, too, Stefan," she whispered into my ear before she trailed her tongue down my neck

I moaned in encouragement, and helped her as she worked at my clothes. Her bare body rubbed up against my clothed one, and I couldn't stand the resistance anymore, for the rubbing made my jeans suffocate my crotch.

I wanted to be a gentleman in this, but like I'd said before, I had no idea when I'd wake up, so there was no time for that.

Instead, my hand curled into her hair while my lips crushed against hers in urgent movements. My arm snaked around her small waist as I spun her around so that she had her back pressed up against the wall I was previously at. My lips never broke from hers as I lifted her lithe body up and pressed harder against her. Her legs snaked around my waist even as she removed all of my clothes. Her hands were all over me - my waist, chest, back, in my hair, and everywhere in between.

I froze, "Katherine, what about protection?"

She laughed at me, "Stefan, this is a dream. Protection isn't needed."

"Right," I'd said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I was already as hard as a rock, and there was no need for encouragement. I eased back just a bit to enter into her, and I could feel contact with her at the tip.

Just a bit more…

"Stefan!" somebody yelled.

I did my best to ignore it, but the dream was slowly fading away as I came into consciousness. Katherine disappeared right before my very eyes, and I screamed.

"Katherine!"

It came out as a scream in my dream, but it was just a whisper as I was sucked back into the oblivion called the "real" world.

I was upset and hurt that I'd only had that little bit of contact with the love of my life that was now just a figment of my imagination.

Worse: _Damon_ was the one who woke me up!

"What the Hell?" I yelled as he looked at me casually from across the room while he leaned against the wall. "How'd you get in here? You're not welcome!"

"Nonsense," he smirked. "I knocked, and Mrs. Flowers answered. When I told her that I was your brother she said that any friend or family of Stefan's is always welcome here."

"What time is it?" I asked as I looked at the digital clock.

"A bit past 2AM," he said casually as he cleaned the dirt under his nails with his other ones.

"Damon," I growled, "you come to my home at two in the morning, wake up my only other roommate, and come into my room to wake me up? You are impossible! What do you want?"

"One," he began, "I didn't come here at two in the morning, I said it was a _bit past _two in the morning. Two: I didn't wake up Mrs. Flowers. That estranged woman seems to have sleep deprivation, and three: I want to tell you that you're getting a new roommate. Oh, and also that you have a tent pitched down south."

My eyes widened, and sure enough as I looked down my body, there was a "tent" under the covers. I quickly shook my head and turned to my side. I'm sure it wasn't anything Damon had never seen before, so I just did my best to be subtle about it.

"Who's my new roommate?" I asked as I tried going back to sleep…desperately, if I may add.

"Me," he said in a chipper voice.

I opened my eyes again and stared at him. The moonlight seemed to reflect off of his eyes and black raven hair. His long sleeved white shirt hung loosely from his body and his black jeans had a bit of dirt on them at the bottom. He also had a pair of white Adidas on.

"You're taking the other bedroom in the boardinghouse?" I asked in a 'you can't be serious' tone.

"Yup," he said as he popped the "p".

"Great," I groaned. "Now that you have your own bedroom, get out of mine!"

"Will do," he chuckled. "Night night, Little Brother. I'd say "sweet dreams", but by the looks of it, you're already having them."

"I was," I mumbled, "until you came along and turned it into a nightmare."

I heard a breathless chuckle escape him as his footsteps fell hard on the old floors while he made his way out.

I was too tired to fix my "problem", so I just tried to go back to sleep. When I'd managed to do that, I was a bit sad when I didn't see Katherine in my dreams again. Hell, I didn't even see Elena. I did see Damon, though, and thus I didn't sleep very well. Thank heavens I didn't have to work later today.


	8. Shopping With Damon

My morning was off to a rocky start when I realized that my new "roommate" had taken the liberty of eating the last of the waffles, and then proceeded to eat the last of the cereal I owned. He didn't even bother writing them down for somebody to go get them.

I realized this when I'd trudged my tired butt down the stairs and attempted to make some iced coffee from packages I'd accumulated through Katherine when she'd worked at Starbucks. She didn't like iced coffee, so she gave all of the packets to me.

Damon was dressed for the day and enjoying a glass of black cherry Kool-Aid when he saw me groan.

"What is it?" he smirked.

"When we run out of something you have to list it on this paper," I said as I held it up and wiggled it around.

"That is the only bill here," I said. "Roommates have to go out and buy groceries when they're low. If you don't write what items we need, then I don't get them. Thus, you ruin my homing condition."

"Oh, I'm _so sorry_, Little Brother," he laughed as he put his hands up in mock apology. "I won't do it again."

I glared at him and he smirked.

"You're so different than you used to be," I mumbled under my breath so only I could hear…or so I thought.

"You aren't the same yourself anymore," he commented casually as he flipped through an old newspaper with Katherine's obituary in it. "God, she was so gorgeous in this picture."

The last comment was about my dead girlfriends senior picture on the second page of the paper. The accident made headlines in this town, and it even aired once on the news. Most said 'Three Die In Car Crash, One Survives', or 'Only Twin Survives Accident', but this one said 'Two New York Natives and Woman Die In Automobile Accident, Town Local, Elena Gilbert Survives'. The paper had went on to talk about how Katherine and Grayson had come down from New York to reconcile with Elena and Miranda. There was a section with Katherine's senior picture in a small article about her, and it was next to Elena's senior picture, with her personal paragraph. There were captions below the pictures to tell who was who, but Katherine's curly hair against Elena's straight helped a bit without captions.

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. "She was."

"Well," he took in a deep breath and closed the paper, "there's no use fretting on it now. What are your plans for today?"

"I have to go shopping," I said. "Your sudden arrival doesn't help the monthly grocery fees."

"Well then," he said. "Since I'm going to be here then shouldn't I contribute my own wages to keep up with finances?"

"You don't have a job, Damon," I said in a snaky tone. "Where are you going to get money?"

"Nonsense," he chuckled. "I have a job as the groundskeeper at the graveyard. I only work three nights a week and probably get paid more than you do because nobody likes that job and it's hard for anybody to accept it."

I bit my lip so I wouldn't say I'd be likely to regret.

"See?" he said as he gestured his drink towards me before sipping on it. "You know I'm right."

"Whatever," I mumbled as I stirred up the coffee in my water and ice.

"Better yet," he said as he read the cover of the paper, "I'll go with you."

We'd definitely get more done and that would make me early for meeting Caroline at the town square. She'd called me earlier and asked me to go, "Fine."

"We also need to stop at the flower shop," he said as he grabbed his keys. "Oh, and we're taking my car."

"What the heck is wrong with taking my car, and why do we have to go to the flower shop?" I asked in a tone making me sound like I was a stubborn little boy. I was totally sounding like the little brother…this time, at least.

"One," he began as he marked it off on his finger, "it's a scorching ninety degrees today, and my car's a convertible, unlike your small scorching hot box bug you pass off as a vehicle. Second: I'd like to decorate Grayson's grave, and Katherine's too."

"Don't you tend the lawn there?" I asked. "Don't they have flowers laying around?"

"Only fake ones," he replied. "I'd like to plant some. Maybe some White Heron Irises, or Bleeding Hearts, or both."

Our mother had an Iris garden in our tiny backyard where the guesthouse wasn't placed. Living in New York had its downfalls, like minimal yardage, but getting to walk through Times Square on my way to school totally felt worth it.

"Yeah," I said subconsciously. In actuality, I wasn't paying much attention.

"Well, let's go," Damon said as he broke my thoughts up. "We're burning daylight."

When he'd snapped his fingers in front of my face to get me to focus, I caught something that glinted on his hand, "Where did you get that ring?"

"This?" he asked as he made it sparkle again. "Katherine got it for me for my birthday last year. I'd lost it until recently when I'd found it in one of my old wallets."

I examined it closer. The ring was a lovely sterling silver with a familiar blue stone placed on top of it. The Salvatore family crest was placed in the middle of the jewel with a letter "D" in the center.

"I have the same ring," I said. It was true. In fact, it was strung around a necklace that I'd put in my suitcase in making my way down here. The only difference was that mine had an "S" in the middle. Katherine had bought it for me on our second "anniversary". It was the same time I'd gotten her the necklace that she'd worn in my dream. That was such a good dream. "Apparently she thought lapis lazuli looked good on us."

"Yeah," he agreed.

Without another word, I'd followed him to his car and hopped into the passenger side.

"So, which grocer do you want to go to?" I asked. "Elena and I went to the one by the school yesterday. It seemed clean and fresh."

"_You and Elena_, huh?" he quirked as he nudged my shoulder and causing me to blush and smile. "Is that who you were dreaming about last night?"

I smiled, but it was at Damon's stupidity, "No. Last night was about Katherine."

"That's even steamier," he teased. "Tell me more."

"There wasn't much to it," I said. "She'd just gotten out of the shower, dropped her towel, and started to get it on with me."

"No wonder you had a tent," he laughed as he drove and changed the radio station. "Baby bro got it in!"

"No, I didn't," I said. "I was close, and then you decided to wake me up just as I was working my way through."

We'd used slang like this all of the time, and we spoke openly about sex to one another. He'd taught me the basics of it, because our father wasn't around to talk to, and it was too embarrassing for me to ask Mom about it. Thus, Damon was the one I went to.

"Harsh," he commented at my irritated tone. "No worries, though. I'd be pretty pissed if I were you and my older brother came barging in when I was about to do my girl, whether it was a dream or not."

"Yup," I agreed as I looked out to the passing landscapes.

Damon suddenly chuckled heartedly, "Do you remember the time we'd went swimming on Italy's beach when we were younger? I think you were six, and I was thirteen. You got a hard on from the colder water and you came swimming over to me panicking. I remember you screamed at me to help you, and that you said you got cancer. You thought _your dick _had cancer!"

"Yeah," I smirked, "and then you proceeded to terrify me more when you said now that I had cancer, it was going to fall off."

Damon was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes and I could only make out a "yeah" between his breaths.

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head.

"Oh, come on!" he smiled. "You have to admit that it was funny! Then, you ran up to Dad telling him that it was going to fall off, you had him rolling in the sand!"

"He laughed about as hard as you did just now," I remembered. "You had me worrying until about ten o' clock that evening when you two finally decided to tell me why my _pene_ was hard."

He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and smacked me in a brotherly way, "See? Not all of our memories are terrible, sad, or scary."

"That one was terrible, sad, and scary for _me_!" I said as I laughed. "I actually believed it was going to fall off!"

"Sucker," he muttered.

"I was _six_, Damon!"

"Yeah, and that made it all the more funny to watch."

"Ugh," I groaned. "You're so immature for your age."

"Watch it, Little Brother," he said. "I'm almost in my mid-twenties. I may go through a midlife crisis soon enough. Then it'll get worse."

I shook my head and groaned while Damon laughed his butt all the way to the grocery store that was three miles away from town, just so he could get those flowers.

…

"Which ones do you like better?" he asked as he held up a box of still-connected-to-the-root-in-the-soil lilies and still-blooming irises. The lilies were dipped into a right pink and purple coloring to give their edges a nice touch and the irises had a coupon with them saying that if we bought them then we'd get 50% off a bouquet of roses in the color that we picked out.

"I don't know, Damon," I said meekly as I stared at our grocery cart full of checked-out bagged items. If we didn't get the mean home soon it would spoil. Damon needed to hurry up.

"Fine, Mr. Broody," he said in a sarcastic tone. You go to the car and I'll pick what I want. You know, though, she was your girlfriend, not mine. You should be helping me instead of worrying about the meat. You decided to shop first and pick flowers later."

His leather jacket and tall, dark figure stood out from the rest of the shop, for it was pink with short older ladies whose skirts matched the flowers they were buying. Some swooned at the fact Damon had the audacity and romanticism to come in here without complaint and smell the flowers before checking them out. Some men just grabbed the first ones they saw. I rolled my eyes at them. The women were in their late thirties and early forties, so I guess that was normal. If they only knew, though. That was the irony in it all.

I took Damon's keys and pushed the cart out to his car. Thank goodness the man decided to carry a cooler in the backseat for when he went to parties and such. The meat would stay cool in there.

After I took the cart back into the store, I went and sat out at the car with the keys in the ignition to listen to the radio.

There were a few songs that I liked and listened to, but I did change the station a lot. When I'd relaxed back into my seat the sun was in the mid sky and blinded me through the windshield. Reaching up to pull the mirrored visor down, something caught my eye behind me when I looked through the reflecting object.

It was a woman with long brown hair tied up into a ponytail. She had on blue jeans and a plain white tank top. Her shoes had been worn from all of the walking she did, or maybe it was running. Her petite body frame did look in shape, so I wasn't sure which one she did more. She had sunglasses on, and she'd just entered the section of the store where Damon was.

I then wondered what Elena would be doing here when she'd told me she was supposed to meet up with Bonnie.

Not wanting to be obvious, I casually made my way out of Damon's car and entered back into the store. When I caught sight of her small body, it was standing beside Damon's five-foot-nine-inch one. I couldn't quite hear what they were saying, and their backs were to me, but I could definitely make out Elena's voice.

He was casually looking over at her and smiling while she placed her hand around his upper arm and gave it a light squeeze. I hid by a vending machine and pretended not to notice.

When she'd turned sideways I'd gotten a good view of her, and it was definitely Elena. Damon had put her arm around her and pulled her close while whispering something in her ear to make her smile.

My blood was beginning to boil at the sight of them when a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I was going get a drink or not, and to move if I wasn't because she was thirsty.

"Of course, ma'am," I said as I moved out of her way. For some reason as if I could've been heard, Damon looked back at me and I could see it from the corner of his eye. He didn't realize that I could see him, because he must've thought that I was just helping the woman.

When I'd looked back at him, Elena was gone.

I approached him and he spoke at me in a harsh tone.

"I thought you waited in the car," he said blankly, but there was anger in his eyes for what I don't know.

"I did, and you took too damn long so I came back in," I said just as harsh.

"When did you?" he asked.

"Just now as I went to get a water," I lied. I was good at lying. After all, he taught me how to be. His advice: believe the lie you're telling so your heart rate won't speed up.

"So where is it?" he said as he looked me up and down.

"I'd changed my mind," I lied again. "The lady behind me rushed me anyhow."

"Whatever," he said with harsh, cold eyes and an angry expression. He walked away from me as I went further into the story to buy some flowers.

_Damon won't have her_, I thought to myself_. I'll win her fair and square. I'll let her know that Damon doesn't care._


	9. Caroline's Help

The drive back to town was a quiet one. Damon put on one of his favorite songs from the 1940's, and I remained silent as he sang to himself. Damon had always had a great voice for a Salvatore boy. Our father or uncles couldn't sing one bit, but Damon had a great voice. I wasn't bad, but I'm not going to float my own boat. Not today, at least.

When we'd arrived back at the boardinghouse, we'd put away all of the groceries, and told Mrs. Flowers, who was working in her garden, that we'd leave her to her work. Damon was going to the graveyard later, but I took a stalk of flowers and went before him to decorate Grayson's and Katherine's graves quickly.

Grayson's grave was saddening…

_Grayson Gilbert_

_Beloved Son, brother, former husband, and friend_

_You will be forever missed_

_July 10, 1980 - June 9, 2012_

But Katherine's pulled at my heartstrings…

_Katherine Elizabeth Pierce_

_~Katerina Elizabeta Petrova~_

_Beloved Daughter, Sister, Girlfriend, and Friend_

_You will be forever missed_

_January 1, 1993 - June 9, 2012_

I tried not to make much of it. Katherine was gone and in a better place, and she didn't have to ever cry again. I'd miss her, but that was what was best for her. At least, that's what I tried to tell myself to justify my feelings for Elena, and why I wasn't broken into tears at the sight of her freshly dug grave. I did miss her though, for my dream proved it.

…

I snuck up behind Caroline at the town's square and she jumped and turned around.

"Oh, Stefan!" she smiled in a breathless tone. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," I smiled as I pulled a pink rose from behind my back. Damon bought the irises.

"What's this?" she asked as her eyes lit up. "Is it for me?"

"That would be why I'm giving it to you," I laughed as she giggled.

Before she did anything else, she stood up straight and looked at me seriously, "It's just a friendship rose. Besides, pink is a friendship color. I understand. Thank you very much, Stefan."

"You're welcome," I laughed slightly. "Yes, it's just a friendship rose, but I figured pink was the one you'd like best. My brother, Damon, bought a dozen of roses with pink, red, and white in them. He got them half off when he bought irises to decorate Katherine's grave."

"Why didn't you buy them?" she asked as she smelled the rose. "Katherine was _your _girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "but Damon also loved her. So he bought flowers to decorate. Seeing as how he bought too much, I took some and left a five dollar bill on the table to pay for them."

"That's nice," she laughed as she grabbed my hand. I'd just noticed that she had a denim sundress and yellow sandals on. Half of her golden hair was pulled up into a ponytail with the rest flowing down her back and she had one of the cutest smiles I'd ever seen, but she just wasn't Elena. "Come on, I have to show you something."

She clutched my hand with her white-tipped nails and led me across the street to her car, "I stumbled upon something when I was…with Tyler."

"Just _with_ him?" I asked as I caught on to the key word. "I see how he looks at you, Care. If you were with him, you were more than just _with _him."

"Fine," she blushed deeply. "I admit it. I like the guy. So what? I'm not in love. It's just a fling until Matt's sister, Vicki, comes out of her two month rehab."

"Flings never end well," I replied. I briefly remembered my fling with Katherine. We'd used each other, and then we'd fallen for each other. It wasn't meant like that, but it just happened. Nonetheless, I loved Katherine, and don't regret a thing.

"Whatever you say," she said sarcastically as she turned on her radio and started tapping her fingers on the steering wheel with the beat of the song.

I sighed and looked out the window.

…

"We're here!" she said.

"Which is where, exactly?" I asked as I looked at a huge mansion in front of me.

"This is Tyler's place, but there's a room in here that I caught my interest," she smiled as she got out of her car.

Her denim sundress swayed in the breeze, and small wisps of her hair flew about her face. I really wished I could've liked Caroline more than I did, because she was a beautiful young woman with full lips and curves in all the right places, but I couldn't. It would've made me feel less guilty because she looked nothing like Katherine or Elena, but I still wanted Elena. Her bubbly personality seemed to be the cherry on the sundae when it came to girlfriend material, but I just couldn't see her like that.

"Won't Tyler be a bit upset when he finds that you brought me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," she smiled, "because we aren't going to the main mansion. We're going to the mayor's office where all of the pictures of the founding families are."

"Tyler's father is the mayor?" I said in a shocked tone. No wonder the dude had money.

"Yup," she said as she grabbed my wrist and led me toward the back of the mansion where the rock driveway turned into a paved office entrance.

"Hello, Mayor Lockwood," Caroline said when she entered the office to see the mayor at his desk working.

"Hello, Caroline," he said with a politician smile. "Who's this you have with you?"

"Stefan Salvatore, sir," I introduced myself. "It's an honor to meet you."

The mayor laughed, "Same to you, young man. I'm Richard Lockwood. Here."

He handed me a card: _Reelect Richard Lockwood for Mayor _it said in fancy writing.

"Mr. Lockwood," Caroline began. "I was wanting to show Stefan the documents of the founding families if that was alright."

"Of course, Caroline," he replied. "It closes at seven, so don't get locked in."

With that, Caroline grabbed my forearm and led me to an open room. One wall was just windows looking out over the town from the top of the hill we were on. There was a welcome sign, and there were documents and pictures on every other wall in the small area.

"This is one part of the historical society," she explained as she bent down to pull out a book on the shelf. "Here's a book listing the names of the families that founded this little town back in the 1860's."

She set the dusty book on a table and opened it to a bookmarked page.

"Why were you with Tyler in _here_?" I asked as I smirked at her.

I saw her blush, "I'd advise you not to sit on the red chair in the lounge area."

I looked to my right, and no doubt, there was a red chair by the window. There was a handprint near it on the window, and the chair was suspiciously further away from the others.

"Oh, geez, Caroline," I said. "Aren't there cameras here?"

"They're fake," she said. "If you look closely the lenses are plastic and the lights are fake. There's no chord going to a security room, and the camera doesn't even weigh a pound since it's just a hollow plastic box."

"Oh," I said as I directed my attention back to the book. What're the names?"

"Fell, Forbes, Gilbert, Lockwood, and…" she said as she left me to look at the last name.

"Salvatore…" I finished.

"Did you not know that your family was a founding family?" she asked as she looked up at me with big eyes.

"No," I replied as I looked at the scrawled writing that somebody used to list my last name.

"There's a picture here somewhere of them," Caroline started again as her lithe fingers trailed the bindings on the bookcase. "Here!"

She grabbed an old worn picture album and opened the page to the last section.

"Look," she said. It's a picture of the founding family. There's some guy named Giuseppe, his wife, and two sons. There's a small mentioning of a daughter named Elise that had died as an infant, but the sons' names were Damon and Stefan.

I looked at the picture.

"My God!" I said. "The boys look exactly like me and Damon. What's the wife's name?"

"Marisol," Caroline answered. "Are you named after these two boys?"

"My father's name is Giuseppe," I replied. "My mom's name is Nicole, though. My father mentioned that he, my brother, and I were named after earlier family members, but they never said we looked so much alike."

The only difference was that the Damon Salvatore in this picture had seemingly lighter hair than my brother's, but I couldn't be sure because the picture was in black and white.

"This Stefan looks like you," she smiled, "but his hair is black instead of brown."

It was true, the picture showed him with darker hair than I had, and the Giuseppe in this photo was bald. My father had a receding hairline, but he was nowhere near bald because his hair was thicker than anybody else's that I'd ever seen in my life. Other than that, though, they all looked alike.

"There's a section behind it about a plague of sudden animal attacks during this time and throughout time until the year 1982," Caroline explained.

"That would explain the dead people who died from the animal attacks," I whispered to myself. There were so many Katherine Pierces who'd died by an animal attack.

"There were some recent ones lately, but the police can't find the culprit animals that would've done it," Caroline said as she brought me from my trance.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

Caroline picked up the book to put it back, and a picture fell out from the back face down.

"Oops," she said.

"It's alright," I said. "I'll get it.

I quickly picked up the picture and turned it around.

"Oh my God!" I said as I threw the picture to the ground and took a step back.

Caroline looked at me like I was crazy and then looked at the picture, "Oh my goodness."

I gained my bearings and approached the table again. "What is the date on that picture?"

"June 1864," she said as she held the picture with shaky hands.

"What is the name in the caption?" I asked.

"Stefan, we both know you saw it," she said quietly.

"Please tell me, though," I said with a blank face.

"But-"

"Please Caroline!" I said harshly.

"Katherine Elizabeth Pierce!"

**A/N: I know it's short, and I haven't updated in a while. I'm sorry! I'm preparing and studying for OGT's (Ohio Graduation Tests) and have had no time to write as much as I want to. I hope you liked it, though. When I get 18 reviews I'll repost another chapter to it! I need 5 more!**


	10. Superstition

Caroline had made a copy of the picture since I wasn't permitted to take the real documents out of the historical society. She then drove me to the town square and let me pick up my own car to drive myself to wherever I was going.

"Damon!" I screamed into his voicemail box from my cell phone. "When you get this message, I need to speak to you ASAP!"

I then hung up and sped all the way to Elena's home.

My car pulled up into her driveway, and I definitely put my brake pads to the test.

"Elena!" I yelled as I ran up to the porch and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" I heard her yell from the inside. My thumbs twiddled as my patience wore thin.

My heart rose a bit when I saw her beautiful face open the door. Her hair hung around her shoulders while her thin white tank laid over body loosely and her shorts were just that - short. She had a pair of socks on and a bit of chocolate on her lips, "Stefan! What're you doing here?"

I held up the picture from my pocket, "There is something up with this case."

Her eyes bulged, "Is that Katherine?"

I nodded.

"What's the date on it?"

"1864."

Her eyes opened even more as she led me into the house and to one of the kitchen stools off of the island.

"Could it be a person who looks similar, like an old ancestor?" she asked. "She could have the same name."

"I doubt that the person would have the same smirk and fire in her eyes," I said to her as I took my finger and wiped the chocolate from the corner of her lip.

She looked at me, "Thanks."

"No problem," I replied as I ate the chocolate from my fingertip. "What do you think this picture means?"

"I don't know."

"Did you find anything in the files that could help us?"

"Well," she started, "I found a sticky note from the medical examiner to the funeral director. It fell out of the file and onto my car floor. I found it this morning. It said that the opening on Katherine's body was from the fact that her abdominal muscles were too hard to cut through during the embalming process, so she had to cut through her side."

"Nobody's muscles are that hard," I said. "Not even mine."

"Exactly," she replied, "so either the medical examiner is a weak man or Katherine's muscles weren't like that of any human."

Just then there was a knock on Elena's door.

"Hang on a sec," she said as she got up and ran across her wooden floor and slid on her socks into the doorway to open the door for the person at the door.

"Bonnie!" I heard her scream when the door creaked open.

"Hi, Elena!" I heard an unfamiliar voice scream back. "Have you seen Jeremy?"

"Yeah," she said. "He's upstairs. Come her for a sec, though, would you? I have somebody here that I want you to meet."

I heard two sets of footsteps approach the doorway and Elena came into view, along with another young woman.

"Stefan," Elena started, "this is one of my best friends, Bonnie Bennett. Bonnie, this is my friend, Stefan Salvatore."

"It's nice to meet you, Bonnie," I said as I got up and offered my hand. She took it in her medium-skinned, small one and shook it.

"You too, Stefan," she replied. "How do you know Elena?"

"I was Katherine's boyfriend until the accident," I explained. "I met Elena when I came down to for the funeral."

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said kindly. "I was with my father for a few weeks and couldn't come back down for the funeral, but I heard that Katherine was a very nice woman. She was Elena's identical twin, right?"

"Yeah," Elena and I replied together.

Elena went on, "Bonnie, do you know much about the founding families?"

"Not much," she answered, "but I'm sure I can find something for you?"

"Well," Elena hesitated, "how much do you know about superstitious creatures or out-of-the-ordinary situations?"

Bonnie gave her a look, "I told you to stay quiet about it."

I looked at her in a confused way.

"I haven't said anything, Bonnie!" Elena defended. "I just wanted to know how much you know. Stefan, may I tell her about the case to see if she can help us?"

"I don't see how she could be much help…no offence," I added, "but I don't mind if you tell her."

"Bonnie," Elena began, "Stefan and I have been working on my family's death case. Neither of us feel that it was just an accident. We feel that maybe something else played a role in it to make it murder.

"Ever since the funeral Stefan has been down here in Mystic Falls helping me with the files. We can't find much, but just today Stefan found a picture dated back to 1864. The name of the girl is Katherine Elizabeth Pierce, and that was my sister's name."

"Where'd you find the picture?" Bonnie asked me.

"At the Lockwood Historical Society," I replied. "Caroline showed it to me when she was there earlier and saw that my family was part of the founding families. I found the picture and had her make a copy of it so I could show Elena."

I grabbed the picture from off of the table and gave it to Bonnie.

She gasped, "This is Katherine?"

"Yeah," I replied, "but the thing is that the picture was taken in 1864, but it's the same Katherine."

"Stefan, can you keep a secret?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah," I answered.

"This is the same Katherine," she told me. "Supernatural creatures exist."

"Yeah right," I laughed slightly.

Just then all of the windows in the kitchen opened up and the front door slammed.

"What the hell was that?" I asked as I jerked. Elena just remained still.

Bonnie pointed to a candle on the table and it lit up.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed quietly.

"I'm a witch, Stefan," she said, "but your little "dead" girlfriend isn't human."

Since I had the proof in front of me, I couldn't argue, "Is she a witch, too?"

"No," Bonnie began. "Witches aren't the only supernatural creatures that exist. I've seen Katherine before. Her name was Katerina. Well, more like my Grams has seen her before. My grandmother is a very old woman. She's lived to see just about everything in her life. She's a witch, too. In fact, she was just a young woman in 1864. There's something about witches and aging slower than everybody else. She told me the story of the founding families, and how she knew the Salvatores. At the time of the animal attacks there was a woman staying with them. Her name was Katherine Pierce. This is her picture. The thing is, though, they aren't animal attacks. They're vampire ones."

"Vampires?" I repeated.

"It sounds crazy, I know," she replied. "But Stefan, your "dead" girlfriend isn't dead. She's a five hundred-and-some-year-old vampire."

Somehow, beyond my very morals and beliefs, I believed Bonnie. I believed her because Elena believed her.

I believed her because I believed in Elena.

"Holy shit!"


	11. Jealousy

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating sooner, girls (and possibly some guys). I've been taking my Ohio Graduation Tests (OGTs) all week and it has left my brain empty of ideas and energy to even look at my laptop. I'm also part of our school's play that's playing this weekend. It's called **_**Into the Woods**_**. I'm playing the clarinet in the pit. My last OGT is tomorrow on Social Studies and after this weekend the play practice will be done for so I can update more. I must say that you've all been very supportive and patient with me, and after this week is finally over I'll repay you with all of the Stelena sexiness I can think of! Thank you all so much for reading, and I'm really sorry about the wait. So here it is - Chapter 11: Jealousy!**

The three of us - Elena, Bonnie, and I - spent the day learning of the creatures we'd only read about in fairytales.

"Lapis lazuli is the only gem that can prevent vampires from burning in the sunlight unless they're Originals," Bonnie explained. No wonder Katherine had jewelry with those gems. She had so much she even gave some to Damon and I. "Grams says that Katherine was conniving and manipulative."

"How did she survive all this time," Elena asked, "if she was alive in the 1860's?"

"Witches who don't use their power much tend to age much slower," Bonnie replied. "While with Katherine, Grams used a lot of her power. Otherwise, she'd look about forty or fifty. At the time she went under the alias of "Emily Bennett"."

To prove all of this was real, Bonnie showed us some spells and performed them. She even let us read her grimoires. Those were books based on her family's history and certain spells for certain things.

Bonnie went home later that evening. She'd said that performing spells had made her tired and she needed sleep. Jeremy went with her, and that meant that I was left alone with Elena.

"What'd you do today?" she asked casually as she did the few dishes that were in her sink.

"Not much," I said. "I went grocery shopping with Damon today."

"Did you have fun?" she said.

"You would know," I mumbled but spoke louder. "You were there, weren't you?"

"No…" her answer sounded like a question. "I went to the store with Jeremy earlier for new shoes, but I didn't go grocery shopping."

"Elena," I started. "I saw you there. You were with Damon in the flower store."

She turned around to look at me seriously, "Stefan, I haven't had contact with Damon since my family's burial."

"I saw you, Elena!" I exclaimed. She should've really just dropped the act.

"You saw somebody who looked like me, then," she defended, "because, Stefan, I wasn't at the flower store. I didn't even know this town had a flower store!"

"It doesn't," I replied. "We went to Katrina's Gifts out of town."

"Then you definitely didn't see me there," she replied. "I've been here all day with Jeremy. The only time I wasn't was when we went to get him new tennis shoes."

"I'm telling you that I saw you!" I began. "It was you - the same hair, body frame, face, and eyes!"

"Same jealousy, too?" she asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You seem pretty defensive," she observed. "It wasn't me. But if it was, why are you getting so defensive? Is it because you're jealous or something?"

"No!" I defended my pride like the "Little Brother" Damon claimed I was.

"Do you even understand how immature that just sounded right now?" she said blandly as if she rolled her eyes. "I'll ask you again: are you jealous?"

"I can't be something that I have no right to be," I said in a Mr. Zen tone.

"It doesn't mean you don't take claim to it," she replied.

"I'm not jealous, Elena," I said. Her name rolled off of my tongue and the endorphins in my brain caused a euphoric feeling all over my body.

"Then you wouldn't care if I were to go pay him a visit, then," she said blandly as she went to the kitchen doorway and began to don her shoes.

"Whatever, Elena," I said. "I'm calling Caroline. Maybe she won't argue with me about everything."

"Yes, Stefan," she said with her back to me. "Go to your girlfriend so she can comfort you. It's seems to be what you're good at."

"What the hell are you talking about, Elena?" I said as I approached her from behind with my arms folded across my chest.

"I saw you in the Square today!" she yelled as she turned around and faced me. Her eyes burned with fury.

"Yeah," I said. "I agreed to hang out with her today…as _friends_!"

"Friends don't give other friends fresh roses, Stefan!" she yelled into my face. Her breath smelled of mint and her eyes went from up-front fury to on-the-verge-of-tears.

"It wasn't like that," I told her. "Damon had extra roses and I decided to give the pink one to her. Caroline knows that pink is a friendship color."

"Then where's mine?" her eyes seemed to be pain-ridden and I couldn't stand to see her hurt.

"Elena, I don't consider you a friend," I said softly, and she burst out in tears.

_What did I do? What did I say wrong?_

I contemplated what I just said.

_Wait…_

"No, Elena!" I said before she bolted. "That's not what I meant."

I grabbed her shoulders.

"Then what do you mean, Stefan?" she yelled between sobs.

"You're so much more to me than that," I said as I let any guard down to let her see that I truly meant what I said.

"Yeah, I'm Katherine to you!" she cried. Her arms had a futile attempt when they flailed to get away because I pulled her close into a tight-gripped hug.

"No, Elena," I answered.

"It's true, Stefan," she wept. "You only stayed here because of Katherine. That's all I am to you."

"Elena," I began, "with all due respect - don't tell me what I do and don't feel about you, because you're way off."

Her eyes were furious again as she pulled back to look me in the eyes.

"How _dare_ you?" she yelled as she slapped me on my chest. "Let me go, Stefan! I am _sick_ of these games."

That was it. The fury and passion in Elena's eyes were too much to bear, and instead of wading the water in the river of which I was in over my head, I was now drowning in it.

I took her by the waist and gently pressed her up against the kitchen wall.

"I'm sick of them, too," I agreed.

Then my lips crushed against hers.

I'd caught her in mid-scream, so she was surprised and abruptly silent all at once.

I kissed her for just a second, and it was all I could take to pull away before what I just did turned into an assault crime. I tore myself from her and stared at her just a few seconds more before I began to make my departure.

As I rounded the corner Elena caught my hand. I turned back to her and her eyes were pleading.

"What was that for?" she asked in a whisper.

"I-uh, I-" I stumbled for words… "I don't know."

"What do you feel, Stefan?" she asked quietly. "Please tell me."

"Elena," I breathed her name. "I don't know what I feel. It's a mixed emotion that sends me on a roller coaster. I feel guilt because Katherine is gone and I just kissed her twin. I feel terrible like a traitor because I wanted to do it. I feel like a total dick because I've been spending too much time on the case and not enough being your friend. I also have self loathe. Lastly, I feel like a liar."

"For kissing me?" she asked, though it sounded like a statement.

"No," I smiled slightly. "I feel self loathe because I don't regret kissing you one bit when I should, and I feel like a liar because I truly am jealous. I also don't deserve to be _that_, either."

"What?" she whispered with huge eyes. Her hand never let mine go.

"I'm sorry, Elena," I told her as earnestly as I could.

"Stefan," she said my name breathlessly…and then she laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked defensively.

"This is just a mess," she said through breaths, and then she abruptly stopped and looked me in the eyes. "But what the hell? It's not like it matters if it gets any messier now."

She took the hand she was holding and wrapped it around her waist as she slammed her body into me and molded her lips against mine. Her sweet breath was on my face and her tongue was in my mouth.

My mind told me it was wrong, but her sweet mouth quickly subdued any conscious thought I had and I let my bodily instincts take over.

My hands were shaking as I wound them through her hair - her soft, sweet, clean, delectable hair. Her body crushed against mine as I was now against the wall. Her lithe, mischievous fingers trailed under my shirt and up my chest. I knew I should've stopped her, but I didn't want to, and as I'd said before - my big head wasn't doing the thinking anymore.

"Stefan," she mumbled my name between kisses when she needed to breathe. I trailed my hands from her neck to her shoulders, down her back, over her rear, and to the backs of her thighs where I picked her up. Each leg of hers wrapped around either side of my waist and I continued to kiss her as I made my way up the stairs. It was only up there had I realized that I'd never been to her room before, and so I didn't know where it was.

I stopped to let her take a breath before kissing me again, "First door on the left."

I smiled as my lips went back to hers and I quickly made my way through that door.

My mind didn't take in the room's surroundings. All that was noted was that it smelled like her - her citrus hair, her sweet female musk perfume, and her arousal. Well, maybe it was my own, but I didn't much care.

I quickly threw her onto the bed and she easily removed my shirt. Her sweet voice laughed and she smiled at me, "Take me, Stefan."

Those three little words sent my body to a complete halt. Was I really just about to take her for my own? I couldn't do that to her - not until I knew that I wanted her and only her…until I knew that Katherine had nothing to do with this.

"I don't know, Elena," I said hesitantly.

"Please?" she seemingly begged with her big doe eyes.

I began to withdraw from being atop of her.

"You didn't hesitate like this with Katherine, did you?" she asked with an angry yet seductive face - a face that made me mad. Didn't she realize that she shouldn't bring up another woman's name at a time like this? Especially, Katherine's!

I gave her a sinister smile and tugged at the zipper on her jeans after removing the button. Her hands worked efficiently on my own and eventually we were only wearing our birthday suits.

Her pure beauty extended beyond words and all I could to was stare and hope I could hold _it_ in until she was fully satisfied.

My lips crushed down on hers again and we made good use of her bed.


	12. Secrets and KoolAid

It wasn't a regretful thing - sleeping with Elena. If thought about - I _was_ single, and so was she. So why did I feel so guilty?

When we were finished, I showered with her. Sweat is sexy in its own neurotic way, but if it's left to sit and simmer it just stinks. I didn't want to explain to Damon why I needed a shower after I just got one earlier so I opted to get one with the woman whom I previously loved on. After that we read one of Bonnie's grimiores about vampires.

With showers and reading done, we went for a walk to the square, and then the park. It was like the sex brought us closer, but didn't change the fact that we were still friends.

'Having sex' seems like such a thrown around word.

I didn't just 'have sex' with Elena. No, I _made love _with her. Whether she returned that love or not is unsure, but I know that I put my love into that hour with her as I did my absolute best to satisfy her every whim and need.

Currently, we were looking at the little children playing on the equipment while their parents yelled for them to be careful. The bench we were sitting on wasn't the best, but it was pretty comfortable with this brown-haired beauty sitting next to me.

She sighed and smiled as she looked at one of the kids going down the slide, "They're adorable."

"They're alright," I said, "but I wouldn't want them to be mine."

"Well, I want kids someday," she said while continuing to look at them.

"Damon once told somebody that I was his son," I recalled. The memory wasn't remembered by me, but my mother told me when I was older. "I was just a few months old and Damon was seven. He told a bunch of people that I was his son named Damon Junior."

That one received a big laugh from Elena.

Just as I was about to say something else, I heard a song randomly play.

"_Ooh, you're so crazy. She's like Baby. I'm like Swayze. I said 'ooh', and I'm burnin' up, so let's turn it up now_…"

I looked over to see Elena pulling her phone from her pocket. I laughed quietly as she spoke to the person on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hi, Caroline," Elena said cheerily. "How are you?"

I heard static.

"Oh, yeah, I've seen Stefan," she laughed as she looked over at me and put her pointer finger up to her mouth to keep me quiet.

…More static.

"I doubt he left because you were trying to put the moves on him even after he said you were just friends," she put her hand over the speaker and laughed. "He may have left because he forgot to turn the coffee pot off or something."

"But he doesn't _drink_ coffee!" I heard her yell from the other line.

I widened my eyes and pulled my phone from my pocket. My fingers dialed Caroline's number.

"You have a call coming in?" Elena asked surprised after more static came over the phone. "Well, yeah, you can call me later if you want…Okay, bye."

"Hello?" Caroline's voice said over the phone.

"Hey, Care," I said in a cheery voice. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good," she said. Her voice seemed kind of shaky.

"I just wanted to call and say that I abruptly left earlier today," I began. "I had a uh- _problem_ with the uh- _coffee pot_."

"But you don't drink coffee," she said. "Did you forget to turn it off or something?"

"No, no," I struggled for words. "Mrs. Flowers needed me to fix hers because _she_ drinks it. I told her I'd fix it today, but I totally forgot. I had to leave right away and go to repair it because she's kind of like my landlord and I didn't want her to lose her faith in me. It'd be a terrible think to not be on good terms with her since she is also my roommate at the boardinghouse."

"Oh," she said. "Then why couldn't you tell me?"

"I was too much in a hurry to form coherent words," I lied. I sucked at this, but she seemed to believe me.

"I see," she said quietly. "Well, _Damon_ says that you left because you had a problem getting it up for me and you didn't want to be embarrassed."

"What?" I said surprised as I sat upright to put my phone on speaker. "Well, Damon can go screw himself!"

"No need," she said with a bit of pride. "He's already screwed me. I'll talk to you later, Stefan. Your brother is calling me."

She hung up.

"That man-bitch!" I said to Elena once I was done staring at my phone dumbfounded.

She cracked up laughing, "I've never heard that one before."

"Me either," I admitted.

"Don't let it get to you," Elena laughed. "Caroline's had sex with Matt, Tyler, and now Damon. It's nothing new to her. I just hope she won't break your brother's heart."

"Trust me," I said, "she won't be breaking his heart. I'm not sure he even has one anymore."

"Don't say that, Stefan," Elena said. "Just a few days ago you were complimenting him. You love him and you know it."

"Yeah," I said. "He's the only brother I have; I have to love him. Enough about me, though. What was with that ring tone of yours? New Kids On The Block? Seriously?"

"Hey," she smiled. "_Dirty Dancing _by them is a great song. Don't hate on it."

"My mom loves them," I said. "I'm pretty sure she's been to _at least _thirty of their concerts. She went to see them at Blossom Music Center in Ohio a few years ago. Jesse McCartney opened for them."

"I like him, too," she laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have a favorite?"

"No," she admitted. "They're all older than me, but I like Donnie Wahlberg's voice the best."

"He's my mother's favorite."

"Cool."

Eventually, as the sun faded and set over the horizon, Elena sighed and placed her head on my shoulders.

"Do you regret today?" I asked.

"No," she looked up at me with surprise. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because if what Bonnie said was true," I began, "then we're in big trouble. I did love Katherine, but if she's a crazy blood-sucking murderer, it may change my perspective just a bit. I'm glad we found out, but I don't want to drag you down with me."

"Stefan," she smiled and grabbed either side of my face whiled giving me a soft, quick kiss on my lips, "if there's anybody I want to get into trouble with, it's you. We'll figure this out. I understand you loved Katherine. I respect that, but you can also let her go. As far as anybody is concerned she's dead - end of story, but it's not like you can't love her still."

"Yeah," I agreed, although I was still unsure about all of this.

"Stefan?" she asked softly once she leaned her head back down.

"Yes?" I said.

"I don't know what today was," Elena admitted. "I'm not sure if it was just an itch that needed scratching, relief of stress, lust, or love, but I do know that I don't regret it. I don't know what it was for you, and I'm not sure if this is a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, but I do know that I love you. Whether it is real love or love for a real good friend, I don't know, but I love you."

"I love you, too, Elena," I said as I began massaging her shoulders. "I love you more than just a good friend. I would love to be your boyfriend, Elena. Katherine has nothing to do with it anymore. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Stefan," she said softly as she grabbed my right hand, turned it over, and kissed my wrist. "Here, take this. Bonnie said it'll repel vampires."

She handed me a small vial of liquid vervain (at least that's what the vial said) and a vervain plant.

…

It took me a while to get back home, but when I went for the stairs, Damon stopped me.

"Had a productive day, did we?" he asked as he lounged on the couch while sipping on his scotch.

"Maybe," I said with my back to him. "You're not the only one who got lucky today."

"Please, Little Brother," he laughed. "Luck had nothing to do with it. I'm just irresistible. That's a good thing, too, because I really wanted to get into that little blonde's pants."

"Don't hurt her, Damon," I said. "Caroline's my friend. Don't ruin that for me."

"No need to worry," he said casually. "We agreed that it was just a one-time thing - just an itch that needed scratching. Although, I told her that if she wanted it again, to call anytime. She's a fiery little pistol, I tell you. Of course, redheads still hold the number one title in hot sex, but she comes in a close second."

I rolled my eyes, but then attempted the stairs again.

"So, you screwed Elena?" he asked as I made the first three.

"Don't make it sound so dirty and common," I said, "but yes."

"Was it good?" he asked.

"Quite memorable," I answered.

"Was she better than Katherine, or did you just pretend Elena was her?" Damon asked as he set his scotch down and sat straight up on the couch.

"I'm not going to get mad at what you just said," I replied, "because it's obvious that you can't comprehend the fact that Katherine is dead and that I'm allowed to move on. I miss her, but I can't bring her back. Elena cares about me, and I love her."

"You love her because she's a second Katherine!" Damon yelled.

"Shh!" I said harshly. "Mrs. Flowers lives here too, you know! Have some respect!"

"She's not here, Stefan," Damon said. "She packed up what little stuff she had today and moved in with her daughter."

I eyeballed him. How could Mrs. Flowers just up and leave everything that was here? This was her home. I hoped that it wasn't my fault.

"I don't know why she left," Damon continued. "It's like she was _compelled_ to just up and leave. She said that you didn't have to worry about finances or anything. She'd pay for all of them still since her daughter is paying all of her bills."

"Where does her daughter live?" I asked.

"Tennessee," Damon replied like it was nothing.

I just gave him a look and ran upstairs to Mrs. Flowers's bedroom. The door was open, and when I stepped into the room I knew that Damon was telling the truth. It was completely empty. The only things left were a bare bed, a tall mirror, a completely empty dresser, and a closet with only hangers in it. She was gone.

"I told you," Damon said from behind me, which caused me to jump and turn around. How'd he get up here so fast? How'd he not make a sound in the process of coming up here? I stared at him like he was crazy. Eventually, I caught sight of something at the corner of his mouth. It was red.

"What's that?" I said as I pointed to his face. He wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand.

"Oh," he replied as he looked at it. "I guess I got some Kool-Aid on me."

"You don't drink Kool-Aid," I stated.

Something in my brain nudged some sort of plug to fit into a mental outlet, but I wasn't quite there yet to finish the plug-in process.

"I had some today for the first time in a while," he said as he squinted his eyes at me, and then formed them to where they were back to normal. "You will not question it again."

For a moment it felt like I was under some sort of spell - like a blank haze - but it quickly left as soon as it came.

"No," I said. "I'm going to question it. I find it completely odd how you just show up and continue to stay when you have no reason to, I find it odd that you move in and then Mrs. Flowers moves out, I find it odd that you get mad at me for being in a flower store, I find it odd that you're moods switch faster than both of our cars put together, and I find it odd that you're randomly starting new habits. You hate Kool-Aid, Damon, yet you're supposedly drinking it!"

He grabbed me by the shoulders and rammed me up against the mirror, causing it to shatter into a million small shards.

"Quit questioning everything!" he said as he looked me dead in the eyes. His pupils seemed to contract and go back to normal, but it seemed a bit creepy to me.

Just as he was about to say something else, his nostrils flared and he looked down at my wrist. I followed his glance to see that it was cut from the glass and blood began to trickle down my hand.

"See what you did, you idiot!" I said as I grabbed my hand, but Damon remained quiet. "Make yourself just a bit useful and get me a wet cloth and some Neosporin."

Damon didn't move.

"Did you hear what the hell I said?" I looked up at him only to freeze before I said anything again.

Damon's eyes were red and had black veins pulsing about them.

"Oh, shit!" I yelled.

Click!

My brain finally got the plug into the outlet…and I understood why Damon suddenly crept up on Elena and me the day at the bridge. I understood why he was so quiet. I understood why his moods and feelings were enhanced. I understood why he was so strong. I understood why he drank "Kool-Aid", which wasn't Kool-Aid at all.

He stared at me.

"Mrs. Flowers didn't move out did she?" I asked.

"Nope," he gave me a truly evil smile.

"She was compelled wasn't she?"

"Yup," he said.

"That's her "Kool-Aid" on your mouth isn't it?"

"Yup."

"You mother fucker!" I yelled and pushed him off of me, but he was so fast that he came at me again and neared his mouth to my wrist. "You're not making a meal out of your own brother. There's no way in Hell!"

I grabbed the clove of vervain in my pocket and smashed it into his face.

Damon dropped to the ground and screamed in agonizing pain as his face became burned and mutilated by the plant.

While that happened I ran down the stairs, out the door, and sped away in hopes of him not being able to catch up to me.

My brother, Damon Salvatore, just tried to eat me!

My brother, Damon Salvatore, is a…

Is a…

Is a…

_Vampire_!


	13. Accidental Relapse

My foot seemed to become lead as I pumped the gas to the floor. I truly hoped that vampires couldn't recover from such a severe burn and then catch up to my little red car that was currently going over a hundred miles per hour.

My car quickly skidded to a stop in front of Elena's house, and I ran out as fast as I could and shot to the porch to bang on the door.

"Elena!" I yelled repeatedly. "Please open the door!"

It was dark by this time, and Damon could be lurking anywhere.

I almost screamed through the door again when Elena flung it open.

"Stefan?" she said as her eyes bulged. "What are you doing here?"

"Let me in," I practically begged. "Please?"

"Yeah," she stepped aside and I came running in.

"What's wrong?" Elena looked at me like I was crazy.

"D-damon is a v-v-vampire!" I looked at her with pleading eyes.

"What?" Her surprise didn't seem all that genuine, but when you've lost your family and realized your twin sister is an immortal being, there's only so much emotion you can show.

"Elena," stood up straight and approached her while taking her fragile body into my arms, "my brother is a vampire! I have no idea where he is, but the last time I saw him he tried to eat my hand off, so I threw vervain in his face and ran as fast as I could to my car, drove her as fast as possible, and ended up here. For all I know he could be outside listening to what we're saying right now."

The adrenaline began to wear off, and I now felt the searing pain from the mirror shards that cut my inner arm near my wrist. I didn't seem to cut any major veins, so I was grateful.

"You're bleeding everywhere, Stefan," she said. When she placed her hand above my cut I felt her skin come in contact with mine, but she was feeling a bit chilly. "Here, I'll get you a drink while I find the bandage kit. Stay here."

I grabbed the side of her face for just a minute as she began to turn away and gave her a light, yet lingering, kiss on her closed lips. She smiled at me, and there was something off about the kiss, but maybe it was just my nerves.

I waited in the doorway while Elena made her way into the kitchen. It was kind of quiet. I didn't much hear her looking in cupboards or anything, but she was back rather quickly with a white gauze bandage and some red liquid.

"I certainly hope that's not Kool-Aid," I mumbled under my breath, but she heard me.

"No, it's not," she said. "It's flavored water - strawberry."

"Oh," I replied.

"Here, drink it," she said as she put the glass up to my lips. "Drink while I put the bandage on."

That seemed a little weird for her to say, but I obliged and gulped down the liquid that didn't taste like strawberries at all.

"There," she said as the bandage was placed neatly over my injury.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"About what?" she replied.

"Damon," I answered.

She thought for a minute, "If he comes around then we'll have stakes for protection and rope soaked in vervain to restrain him."

"Seems likely," I pondered the idea and then answered.

"Don't worry, Stefan," she said in a voice that seemed all too familiar. "It's alright."

"Katherine used to tell me that when I thought I'd done something wrong," I blurted out. I had no idea why I did, but it just came out.

She gave me a slight smile, "Do you miss her?"

"More than anything," I answered. "Please don't misunderstand that, because I love you, but yes, I miss her."

"Do you still love her?" she asked. "It's okay to tell me. I know you love me, but do you love her still?"

I nodded and looked down.

"You're such a gentleman, my sweet Stefan," Elena said as she pulled my chin up to meet her eyes. I got a sudden flash of déjà vu.

"_You'd be surprised to know that I can at least show up in your dreams, my sweet Stefan."_

My head began to spin as I placed my hand on her shoulders and looked down at her neck, "I've got to be dreaming again."

My hand grabbed the gold chain that was wrapped around her neck and pulled the pendant from behind her shirt to reveal the names of "Stefan & Katherine" on it. My breath caught in my throat and I turned it around to see the simple engraving of '7/30/08' on the back.

"Katherine?" I said in a whisper. She nodded slightly and looked up at me through her thick lashes.

"Love me, Stefan," she said quietly, but met my eyes.

I'm not sure what caused this accidental relapse of feeling that overcame me, but in one second I was standing in the doorway stupefied, the next I was slamming Katherine up against the wall and violating her lips with my own. Her hands worked at me like they did in my dream, and eventually I had her in her bare essentials.

Those were ripped off quickly and I carried her to the couch where I reclaimed her as my own.

During this bittersweet interval, my mind did seem to tug at conscious thoughts of those relating to Katherine being a vampire, _Damon_ being a vampire, and Katherine actually being alive, which is crazy because I clearly saw her dead body in the coffin that day with Elena.

_Elena…_

Suddenly, I realized that if this was Katherine, then this wasn't Elena. So if this wasn't Elena, then where in the world was Elena?

_Elena, Elena, Elena…_

_Oh, Elena!_

"Who did you just call me?" Katherine said as she abruptly stopped to look up at me when I opened my eyes.

"What?" I asked. "I didn't say anything, Katherine."

"The hell you didn't," she said with rage. "You just called me Elena! Get the hell off of me!"

She barely pushed on my chest with her hand, but it caused me to fly off of her and across the room.

Well, Bonnie was right - my ex-girlfriend really is a vampire!

_Fuck!_

Katherine came at me within a blink of an eye after I had my jeans buckled back to my waist. My shirt wasn't on, though, and she was stark naked as she held me against the wall by my throat. I must admit…it was pretty hot.

"I'm not Elena, Stefan Salvatore," she said, and I could almost see fire shooting from her eyes. "Apparently the vervain wasn't bled out of your system enough to keep compulsion for a mere hour while I had my way with you one more time. Damn Damon for failing at the one measly job I gave him. I should've known not to let a newly made vampire deal with problems like this!"

So Damon _was_ in on it. Interesting…

"How did you get here? Where's Elena? Why are you still here when you're supposed to be dead?" I asked these questions with ragged breaths, for she was cutting off my airways.

She threw me across the room and I landed on the floor…on my back. It hurt.

"You sit there and don't move or I'll rip your throat out," she commanded, and I didn't dare move a muscle.

"You see, Stefan, I never left," she began. "I've been leading you on since -" she looked on the back of her necklace "- July 30, 2008. I'm obviously not dead, and the body you saw in the casket was a wax figurine to throw you two off. I knew you'd come snooping around to avenge my untimely death, so I had this all planned. I was to die, you were to look around for a bit, and then you were to give up and go back to New York. I should've known better though, and that was an error on my part. I'll start from the beginning…"

"Grayson Gilbert wasn't my father. Actually, he was my great-great-great-and plus some grandson. I'm very old, Stefan. I went to Virginia first on my way to the beach for some sun and relaxation. The lapis lazuli ring prevents my burning, but anyhow, I passed through Mystic Falls on my way there since it's what you would call a "boomtown" for supernatural creatures. I was in town for a few days when I ran into the original Salvatore brothers. I played them along as well. When I got tired of one, I just switched to the other and vice versa. Needless to say, I never made it to Virginia Beach. Eventually, I would come back to this town every now and then after the Salvatore's died to see if any other ones came along to toy with when I found Elena. The poor girl didn't know she was my doppelganger and destined for a life of fear, and when her parents divorced when she was eight, I was determined to become involved with my descendants. I never realized that the Gilberts were descendants of mine until Elena. After that, Grayson and Miranda divorced, and I compelled him to move to New York and pretend that I was his other daughter - Elena's twin sister. I did the same to Miranda and Elena, but I went with him to the Big Apple and made a life there as Katherine Pierce, the daughter of Grayson Gilbert. I even made up a back story for people who wondered why my last name was Pierce, and of course, you know that one because you asked me the question long ago."

"What do you mean "toy" with both Salvatore Brothers?" I blurted out, but nearly regretted being thrown into another wall.

"Patience, Stefan, I'm getting there," she replied with a devilish grin. "Once I was in New York, I devised a plan to separate Grayson and Miranda forever by making them hate each other. It would've made Elena's life miserable, and I took joy in that, though I don't know exactly why. I guess it was boredom. Anyway, my plan was about to be set into motion until I went to school and found out about a young man named Stefan Salvatore."

She smiled at me, "After that, you took up all of my time. I played the innocent little girl that you immediately seemed to fall head-over-heels for, and when I found out you had a brother, oh, the joy it brought me to realize I could repeat my past all over again! It wasn't long until I was a significant part of your life and had all of your family loving me - including Damon.

"I flirted with him behind your back all of the time, and it only made him look bad because I'd compel him not to be able to remember my flirting, but only his own, which caused your tightly-knit brotherly bond to unwind before your very eyes, and there was nothing either of you could do about it.

"But then when I realized that after he "tried to kiss me" - which is actually a lie because we were going hot and heavy before you walked in and I compelled him to lie and think he didn't really kiss me but tried to - he was graduating a week later and then flying to Italy the night of his graduation to live with his father, Giuseppe, I became somewhat heartbroken to find out that my fun was going to be over. If your parents would've divorced then it wouldn't have happened and I could still be having fun and leading you along. Since that didn't work, though, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"The plan was to bring you together by having Grayson reunite with Miranda so they'd become a family again. Then, just as they'd start to become a family again, they'd die in a car accident and I'd be the only survivor. I figured you and Damon would be so worried and shaken up that he'd rush home and the games would continue, but that's not how it happened.

"The driver I compelled to hit Grayson's car didn't seem to realize that I was the one sitting in the back seat on the driver side and not Elena, so as he did his job by hitting and killing Elena's parents, he failed at killing her because his car was aimed to kill me instead. Had I been human, I would've died, but I saw the crash coming and braced myself by lying in the seat and putting my hand to the door to stop its impact on me. I should've known better because all it did was punch that little spot of the car out of the frame leaving a handprint. The car hit lower and cut me from my chest to my thigh. I must say it hurt, but I healed easily enough.

"Sadly, it didn't kill Elena, for she swam out of the car before I could grab her and drown her, so I had to lay down there in the car at the bottom of the godforsaken river and play dead for eight hours until I could get into the morgue and compel the medical examiner to B.S. my death report.

"I tried to dispose of that little chunk of metal by burying it deep in the riverbed before I was retrieved from the water, but apparently it came up, because Elena found it. Since I knew this little piece of evidence would be the one thing that prevented you from stopping the search for "my killer", I had to take matters into my own hands once again. So, I showed up in your dreams and made sure you and Damon were together, which is probably why he got so mad when you came back into the flower store. It wasn't Elena, but rather me, there talking to him and telling him the plan to corrupt you. He was a vampire by that time. I changed him after my burial ceremony, and he's been so angry with you that he'll to anything to make you insane. That's why his emotions are so up and down. One minute he's nice, the next he's close to Satan himself. It's all for you, Stef.

"But apparently when you cut your wrist the bloodlust became too much and he nearly blew everything. Good thing I gave you my blood. Your wound most likely isn't there anymore."

I lifted the gauze to see that she was right. There was no cut whatsoever, "I knew it wasn't flavored water."

"It was too," she laughed, "just not strawberry. It was water with a bit of my blood in it."

"That still doesn't explain where Elena is or how you got in here," I said.

"That was easy," she stated. "While you two were at the park and Damon was off screwing some blonde, Jeremy came back and thought I was Elena. He found it a bit odd for me to ask if I could come in my own home, but regardless, he's the one that invited me in, and when Elena came back home I tied her up and threw her down into the basement, and then I compelled Jeremy to go back to his girlfriend's."

"So, Elena's in the basement?" I asked. Ever since she told me her huge story, she didn't seem real scary to me anymore.

"Yes," she pouted, "and why aren't you applauding my work?"

"Well, Katherine," I began as I stood up. "An easier solution would've been to compel Damon to stay so your games wouldn't end. Instead, you have to bring an innocent helpless girl into this only because she looks like you, which is something she couldn't help. I'm not going to applaud you, either, because if you think about it, your plan just blew up in your face. Damon may still love you and want you, but I don't anymore because I now realize you're a selfish, evil, conniving _bitch_! So either way you look at it, you lose!"

She suddenly screamed like a three-year-old and stomped her foot on the ground, only her strength caused her to break through the floor and a chunk of sharp wood came back and hit me in the chest. It didn't puncture anything, but it hurt.

She became a bit distracted with her foot through the floor, so I took a chance as I grabbed the wood and ran down into the basement, and right there was my precious Elena trying to break free of the ropes of bondage she was in on the cold cement floor. Her mouth was surrounded in duct tape, and I quickly asked her.

"Are there any vervain plants in here?" I asked quickly.

She nodded and jerked her head to a cupboard. I opened it and there was vervain galore! I saw vials of liquid stuff, powdered vervain, and plants. I looked to my left on the door and it read "Property of Alaric". I didn't know who Alaric was, but I was going to thank him before this was over. I grabbed all I could and gave a plant to Elena before being choked up by the throat. My ex-lover was the one who was cutting off my circulation, but I wasn't scared. Instead I threw all the vervain in my hand on her face, and she let me go while screaming in pain.

Once she dropped me I scrambled over to Elena to untie her hands, which took little time due to my adrenaline rush, but when I told her to run as I threw her my keys (thankful that she obliged, if I may add) Katherine came back at me. I yelled before she cut my circulation off, "Elena, if Damon is out there then shove the vervain down his throat and drive to Bonnie's!"

Katherine threw me on the ground so hard that I was seeing stars, "You ungrateful bastard! I give you the best four years of your life and you repay me by shoving vervain in my face. Newsflash: I drink the stuff, so it doesn't hurt me much."

"_Much_…being the key word," I said as she wrapped her perfectly manicured hands around my neck.

She screamed again and I felt her break my left hand, causing me to grunt in pain. It hurt a lot, but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of a painful look on my face.

It took me a minute to realize that I still had the long chunk of wood in my pocket…and it had a pointed edge.

I'll call it an emergency stake.

Katherine placed both hands on either side of my neck and smiled at me, "Any last words before I break it?"

"Yeah," I said. "Go to Hell!"

I shoved the stake in her heart just as I heard the snap of my neck.


	14. She Kissed Me Back!

_No, Stefan, please! No, no, no, no, no!_

I faintly remember the night air beating on my face as somebody placed their hands on either side of my face to straighten something out, but I faded in and out of consciousness. I knew I wasn't quite dead, unless you dream when you die.

Elena was in my dream, and I knew it was Elena because I'd killed Katherine when I staked her. There was no way in Hell that I could've missed. I was aiming too well.

"Stefan," she told me as she grabbed my face. "Please wake up!"

"I am awake," I said. "How else could I see you? There's no way my dreams of your beauty hold any real comparison to the real thing."

"Stefan," she cried, "Bonnie is casting a spell to help me invade your dreams. I don't know what happened, but please wake up! Try, just try…for me."

Her tears were too much to bear, and I couldn't stand the fact that I was the one causing them, so I did my best to wake up. It took all of my willpower, but eventually I was able to flutter my eyes open.

"Stefan!" Elena screamed as she hugged me while I was still on the ground. "Don't move, I think your neck is broken. I feel terrible, because I didn't know. When I got Bonnie and came back we moved you, but only after we got you out here did we realize that you're badly injured. The ambulance is on its way."

By this time my eyes were completely open and I could see Bonnie and Elena from where I looked straight up.

"No need," a voice said from somewhere. I tried to move my neck to look, but caught myself when Elena reminded me that it could be broken.

The voice came closer and eventually hovered over me, "How are you feeling, Little Brother?"

"Get away from them, Damon," I said with as much venom as I could muster.

"Calm yourself down," he said. "I had no intent on hurting either of them. Hell, I didn't even mean to hurt you until you cut your hand. I am sorry about that, though. I'm also sorry that Katherine corrupted us. I was outside listening to what she was saying. I was trying to save you, but I wasn't invited in. Anyhow, you're all better now. There's no need for an ambulance."

"Are you crazy?" Elena said into Damon's face. "Katherine almost killed him! He needs help!"

"Correction, Elena," Damon smiled with seemingly no emotion, "Katherine _did_ kill, Stefan. The only thing he needs now is this."

Damon tossed me a blood bag.

"Shit!" I heard Bonnie mutter under hear breath, which Elena didn't catch.

"Drink it," Damon commanded. "You'll be back to normal in no time. Only this time, you'll be faster, stronger, and have deeper emotion."

"You'll be a vampire?" Elena asked in horror.

"He'll still be the same old Stefan," Damon told her. "He'll just be a bit more durable. I'll put him on bunny blood, so he can still be your one true love and not go crazy by feeding on people. Katherine made that error with me, but first, he has to drink the human blood, or he _will_ die."

Elena jumped into action and ripped the seal off of the bag and held it to my mouth, "Drink it, Stefan. Please! I love you so much, and I want you with me!"

She loved me…and wanted me with her.

This time, I knew it was genuine.

Without a second thought, I lifted the bag to my mouth and drank to my heart's desire. Eventually, after a few minutes, I got up, and I could hear Elena's heartbeat. Her beauty was even more visible, and I could smell her sweet and tangy perfume that made me want to tackle her.

Damon could see it in my eyes, "Careful, Stef. You can kiss her, but don't break her."

"I love you, Elena," I said to her with as much passion as I had. Softly, I took her hands into my own, and I easily placed my lips with hers.

She kissed me back.

I no longer cared what troubles I had to face with this new life that I couldn't quite comprehend. Elena loved me, and I loved her, and that's all that mattered. Everything was right in this world, even if it wasn't. This was where I belonged - with her. She accepted me, and it meant the world.

She kissed me back!

Everything was going to be alright. So in the end, the crime that we were working together with _was_, in fact, strong enough to bind a love so ill-placed.

…And she kissed me back in the end!

**The End…**

* * *

><p><strong>(46/12) Hello Readers, I'm sorry to say that this story has come to an end, but another is just beginning for Stefan as his life as a vampire. I love writing crime stories, and I wanted to bring new characters in. I mean, Alaric was only mentioned once in this, and what about Klaus? That was an "un-error" on my part. So, as you can believe, there WILL be a sequel, although I don't know quite when I'll have the time to sit down and plan out a plotline for it, so keep your eyes peeled! It'll focus more on how Stefan adapts to becoming a vampire, and hey, maybe..JUST MAYBE, there'll be a little Delena goodness just because I love them, too (I still believe Stefan is the best match for Elena, though, but I love Damon and Elena). Of course, it's going to be a crime story, but this time it'll be more on the supernatural side other than just a car accident. I know this story came to an abrupt end, and I'm sorry for that, but I didn't want to end the story at all, so when that happens, the endings tend to suck... Anyway, since this story still isn't over in my mind, there'll be another. I just didn't want to write a story where Stefan was a human AND vampire in the same one. Thus, I've divided it up as Stefan being human in this one, and he'll be a vampire in the other (obviously, duhh)! Oh, there'll also be another "special" surprise, so please read it when I write it!**

**I hope you liked it! **

**Much Love!**

**~S. A. Arkenburgh**

**(12/11/12) How've you been readers? I want to tell you that the first couple chapters have been posted to this story's sequel, "Binding Crime - Supernatural". If you liked this one, check out the other one for more sarcastic Damon comedy, Stelena love, possible Delena smut, Caroline, and the dangerous twists and turns that seem to follow the Salvatores wherever they go. The setting this time: New York City!**


	15. Epilogue (Ch 1 to Sequel)

**A/N: Hello Readers! I'm back from FF hiatus! Actually, I've just been reading more FF than writing it, but still. Stefan and Elena are back for a whole new crime-solving adventure! I'd like to point out that this story is going to have some rated M parts in it, but overall it's a T story. I'm not going to say that if you're under 18 to go away, because I'm under eighteen and the author of this story, so I'll just say that if it would bring any offense to you, then don't read the chapters. I'll give you a fair warning when they're coming up…and without further wait, here's Binding Crime: Supernatural…Chapter 1: Adjustment Hunt!**

**Oh, and I don't have to say that L.J. Smith owns everything but my plotline, right? It's kind of obvious already.**

"Run it, Stef!" Damon yelled at me through the woods. His voice bounced off of the trees in a whisper, but I could hear him acutely. "Be like the beagle our great-aunt Ellie had and run that damn rabbit!"

I remembered that beagle. He was two years older than me and a senior dog at the time we visited Ohio to see our Aunt Ellie, but he could still run a rabbit and bring it back to you. His name was Chase, because he chased the bunnies. It was quite saddening when he finally passed from his extremely old age; he was fourteen.

Just as I was lost in thought I heard Damon run up from behind me, and before I could react, he slammed me against a tree, causing it to crack and fall in the middle of the woods. It reminded me of that joke about the tree in the woods. When it falls but nobody is around to hear or see it, did it really fall? I didn't know.

"Stefan," Damon said through gritted teeth as he held my by the collar of my shirt. "You need to _focus_! I understand you're still getting used to this, and that your vampire mind runs ramped with random thoughts, but you have to at least _try_ and hunt. You can't stay on bagged blood all of the time or you'll become addicted and out of control."

"I'm trying, Damon!" I said as I threw him off of me, but he didn't go far.

Unlike me, Damon wanted to stay on the bagged blood because he had more experience as a vampire and could control himself when he wanted to, and that caused him to be much stronger than I was. Though he had his diet, he was trying to help me adapt to this new form of life I was thrown into, and thus, here we were - for the fourth hour straight - trying to get my mind to focus long enough for me to catch one damn rabbit!

"Well, you need to start getting the hang of this or you're going to starve," he stated because he knew as well as I that I was not going to continue to drink human blood…no matter how delightfully delicious it tasted as it ran down my throat, leaving a warm feeling all over…

Damon snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"I don't know how to focus, Damon," I admitted. "Why does this have to be so damn hard?"

Damon growled in frustration. He started pacing the forest floor in a circle with his hands behind his back and his head down as he was deep in thought.

I just stood there with my hands in my pockets as I blew out in frustration and looked up at the sky, which was getting brighter with the upcoming sun.

"Damon," I mumbled. "I have to get back. The sun's coming up."

"No you don't," he said, but he didn't look up or stop his pacing. He just reached into his pocket and threw something shiny at me. "Put it on, and keep it on, or die."

Of course I caught the shiny silver object with ease, but I didn't expect it to be the ring that Katherine had gotten me as an anniversary present.

"Why do you have this?" I asked as I examined it.

I hadn't worn it since I heard of her "death", which turned out to be completely falsified in her plan to bring Damon and I back together so she could continue her sensual escapades with the both of us, causing us to be immortal enemies up until her _real_ death, which consisted of me shoving a stake through her vampire heart as she snapped my neck, causing me to become what she was, and after she turned Damon in the process of her evil-scheme-gone-awry.

"I didn't know how long we'd be out here, so I brought it for you in case the sun came up," he replied. Whether I liked it or not, my brother was always looking out for me. "It's just a shame that Katherine was the one who gave it to us."

I stared at the silver ring that I slid onto my middle finger on my left hand. The blue lapis lazuli stone surrounded the Salvatore family crest. Damon had gotten the same ring from Katherine at some point in her plot to string us along, but the only difference was that there was a letter "S" on the center of my family crest on my ring, and Damon's had a "D" in that spot.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"At least the new look-alike has a better personality," he mumbled as he continued pacing.

The new look-alike was in reference to Elena.

Sweet, beautiful, sexy, kind, Elena.

I could picture her now with her straight brown hair and her cute little cheerleading outfit. I haven't actually gone to school with her, but she had a picture of her in the uniform sitting on her dresser. My sweet, sweet, Elena. The same Elena that I haven't seen since I turned into a vampire. She'd kissed me that night, and I wanted to melt. Even after all the time, she'd kissed me back, and that's what mattered.

I was pulled out of my thoughts to see Damon staring at me, "What?"

"You're thinking of her aren't you?" he asked with a knowing glimmer in his blue eyes.

I sighed deeply and nodded.

"That's it!" he smiled.

"What's it?" I asked, confused.

"Stefan, you're able to focus when you think of Elena," Damon noted. "I know you haven't seen her in a few weeks, but it's for your own good and her safety. If you can control your appetite, then you can see her. Focus on Elena, Stef! You're tracking the rabbit for Elena! You will catch it so you can get one step closer to seeing her. Close your eyes and picture her, and once you get the scent of whatever animal that isn't human, you hunt it."

I obeyed and closed my eyes.

My mind called up a picture of Elena. Her beautiful chocolate brown eyes glistened in the light as she looked up at me. It was at the park after we'd made love for the first time. Her small body cuddled up against me as she watched the little children play. She'd told me that she wanted kids, and at that particular moment, I'd told her that I didn't much want any. I've matured since then. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I'd truly matured or the fact that I was murdered in cold blood and saw my life flash before my very eyes, but I now wanted to give Elena anything in the world. Sadly, I couldn't give her what she wanted, because my reproductive system has died. I wished so bad to give her children, but I couldn't, and in a way that broke my heart. Although, I was just happy to be alive and able to see Elena…if only I could control myself and keep in check…

…_DEER!_

I ran without a second thought in the direction of which I heard the animal. Damon was hot on my trail as if to make sure the scent I got wasn't that of a human's, "That's excellent, Stef! Remember, you're the hunter!"

I snarled out of hunger and ran faster.

My body took itself towards the animal and my fangs protruded without me controlling them. I knew my eyes were red, but I was too much involved to care.

The deer was grazing in the field, and a part of me tried to consider another prey than this beautiful, innocent one, but my fangs had already sung themselves into its jugular as I broke its neck and killed it.

Damon lurked in the background as he allowed me to eat my kill freely. He was my protector - he always has been.

"Good job, Little Brother," he smirked when I was finished. "It's not a rabbit, but at least it's not a human. You should take that deer to the children's center here in town. There are hungry, homeless kids, and hunters to prepare the deer. You're not going to eat the meat anyhow."

It was a good idea, so I opened the abdomen so it looked like I drained the blood naturally, "Should I just tell them I hit it with my car and then got it fixed."

"That may take a bit of compulsion, but it's a good enough story," Damon agreed.

We went into town, dropped off the deer, and had a celebratory drink for my small accomplishment.


End file.
